Around the Tubes: September 19, 2020

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 Moonbase, Your Honor, The Comedy Store, U2, Great Performances: GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends, deryk, Zach Gill, Maja Kristina, Desus and Mero,and BET.

- SHOWTIME announced that the new half-hour comedy series MOONBASE 8, starring Emmy^® nominee Fred Armisen (Portlandia), Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!) and Golden Globe^® and Academy Award^® nominee John C. Reilly (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), will premiere on Sunday, November 8 at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The series is created, written and executive produced by Armisen, Heidecker, Reilly and Emmy nominee Jonathan Krisel (Baskets), who also serves as series director.  Set in the isolated desert of Winslow, Arizona at NASA’s Moon Base Simulator, MOONBASE 8 follows eager astronauts Skip (Armisen), Rook (Heidecker) and their leader Cap (Reilly) as they attempt to qualify for their first lunar mission. While working vigorously to complete their training, a series of unexpected circumstances forces the astronauts to question their own mental sanity, trust in each other and whether or not they’re cut out for space travel.


-  SHOWTIME has released the official trailer for the upcoming limited series YOUR HONOR, starring Oscar nominee and Emmy, Golden Globe^®, Screen Actors Guild^® and Tony^® Award winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad). BAFTA winner Peter Moffat (The Night Of, Undercover) serves as showrunner, executive producer and writer of multiple episodes. The series is executive produced by Emmy nominees Robert and Michelle King (The Good Fight, The Good Wife, Evil) and Liz Glotzer (Evil, The Good Fight). Emmy-nominated and BAFTA-winning writer/director Edward Berger (PATRICK MELROSE) executive produces and directs the first three episodes. YOUR HONOR is set to air this December.

- SHOWTIME has released the trailer and poster art for the upcoming docu-series THE COMEDY STORE, which chronicles the evolution of comedy from within the walls of the legendary L.A. club. Directed and executive produced by Mike Binder (The Upside of Anger, Reign Over Me), who started at the Store as a doorman before rising to main stage performer, and executive produced by Oscar^® nominee and Emmy winner Mike Tollin (The Last Dance), the five-part series premieres on Sunday, October 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.  THE COMEDY STORE brings to life the legends, heartbreak and history created at the iconic club on the Sunset Strip, weaving never-seen-before footage of trailblazers like Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison and Freddie Prinze together with interviews with David Letterman, Jay Leno, Chris Rock, Andrew Dice Clay, Joe Rogen, Whitney Cummings, Jimmy Walker, Michael Keaton, Jim Carrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Marc Maron, Damon Wayans, Bill Burr, Byron Allen and many more as they reflect on the ups and downs of The Store’s textured history.  As a Comedy Store alum, former stand-up comic Binder spotlights one of pop culture’s great laboratories that forever changed comedy and, for many, provided a launching pad to stardom in film and television. Legions of legendary performers cut their teeth doing stand-up at The Store on Sunset while being mentored by the tough but nurturing gatekeeper Mitzi Shore. Loved by most, hated by some, but always garnering their respect, Shore, says Binder “…changed the way comedy was presented. The Store is her legacy. It’s the epicenter of stand-up comedy in the world.”


- YouTube, Island Records, Interscope, UMe, and UMC today announce the relaunch of U2’s Official YouTube Channel with weekly releases of the band’s most iconic music videos and never before seen content on YouTube, all remastered at the highest possible standard. Over the course of the next year and beyond, the band’s music video catalog will be remastered in HD and launched exclusively on YouTube in that format.  The first phase of the relaunch will celebrate the upcoming 20th anniversary of the band’s tenth studio album, the GRAMMY Award-winning global smash hit, All That You Can't Leave Behind; leading with the re-release of one of the album’s most seminal tracks, “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” remastered in 4K as a premium music video (PMV) and Premiered yesterdy HERE.

- The Recording Academy® will honor its 2020 Special Merit Awards recipients with "Great Performances: GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®," an awards ceremony and tribute concert hosted by Jimmy Jam on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/gperf and the PBS Video app.  Announced earlier this year, the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Chicago, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, Iggy Pop, John Prine, Public Enemy, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Ken Ehrlich, Philip Glass and Frank Walker received Trustees Award honors, and George Augspurger was recognized with the Technical GRAMMY® Award. Mickey Smith Jr. will also accept the Music Educator Award™ as this year’s recipient.  Performers include Laurie Anderson, Philip Bailey, Brandi Carlile, Cynthia Erivo, Chris Isaak, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, Cyndi Lauper, Sam Moore, Leslie Odom, Jr., and Yola. Presenters include Rhiannon Giddens, Joe Mantegna, John Legend, LL COOL J, Greg Phillinganes, Henry Rollins, and Don Was.

- Auckland-based, UK-born newcomer deryk first arrested us with her affecting voice on her debut single “Call You Out” earlier this summer. She has since shared the moving follow up “One Star,” alongside announcing plans for her debut EP release WOMb out on October 2^nd.  The EP focus track, “goodtimes” is a heart-on-sleeve account of a time in deryk’s life that she invites us to share with her. The song, which is at times almost uncomfortably intimate, succinctly showcases her impeccable ability to harness a mature understanding of life’s common experiences. A tale of heartache and lessons learnt, “goodtimes” manages to be both melancholic and uplifting—like only the best multidimensional pop music can.  LISTEN TO “goodtimes” HERE!

- Acclaimed singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist ZACH GILL unveils his third full-length solo album, Cocktail Yoga, today.  Stream Cocktail Yoga HERE via Brushfire/Republic Records and view the lyric video for “Playground In Your Soul” HERE!  Zach Gill, who over the course of his career has accumulated over 18 million global streams, heralds the nine-track instrumental new album with the single “King Dancer’s Delight.” Punctuated by nature sounds, immersive production, and artful sonic transmissions, Cocktail Yoga also drew critical attention right out of the gate. In addition to features from JamBase and more, Santa Barbara Independent enthusiastically wrote, “To me, it sounds like that ‘space-age bachelor-pad music’ made famous by Mexican legend Esquivel!”

- Recharging The Pointer Sisters classic for the 21^st century, acclaimed 22-year-old Stockholm songstress Maja Kristina shares her new single “Slow Hand” today.  Stream “Slow Hand” HERE via Eddie O Entertainment/Republic Records.  On the new track Maja said “I love this song and I'm super excited to bring it back from the 80's with a modern twist. Great songs never go out of style and this is no exception.”  Maja adds her inimitable energy to this seductive rendition of the 1981 staple. Over fresh production, she leans into infections verses as the track culminates on the timeless hook illuminated her magnetic charm and the scope of her expansive voice.

- SHOWTIME has picked up a third season of DESUS & MERO, the network’s first-ever late-night talk show, to return in 2021. Season two continues through October, airing weekly on Sunday and Thursday nights at 11 p.m. ET/PT and is currently shot remotely from the hosts’ own homes. Each episode of DESUS & MERO features the co-hosts giving their take on the day’s hot topics and chatting with guests at the intersection of pop culture, sports, music, politics and more, such as Senator Kamala Harris, Missy Elliott, Dr. Anthony Fauci, The Beastie Boys, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union, Vice President Joe Biden and David Letterman. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.

- SHOWTIME has picked up the 10-episode first season of THE END, a half-hour dark comedy series starring Emmy nominee Harriet Walter (Succession, The Crown, Killing Eve) and Golden Globe nominee Frances O’Connor (The Missing, Mansfield Park). In THE END, three generations of a family live with separate but intersecting obsessions – trying to figure out how to die with dignity, live with none and make it all count. The series is scheduled to premiere on SHOWTIME in 2021. A coproduction between Sky UK and Foxtel Australia, the series was created and written by Samantha Strauss and is directed by Jessica M. Thompson and Jonathan Brough. The announcement was made today by Jana Winograde, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.  O’Connor plays Dr. Kate Brennan, an Australian-based specialist in palliative care. Euthanasia is a hot-button topic in Kate’s field of work, and she is passionate in her opposition. On the other side of the world, Kate’s mother Edie Henley (Walter) feels just as strongly about her right to die. Kate has little choice but to ship Edie out from England and deposit her in Australia’s Gold Coast in a nearby retirement community – Edie’s worst nightmare. While Kate struggles with her own problems, her children, one of whom is a teenage trans boy, are trying to work out who they are and who they want to be. THE END is a story about family, ethics and emotion, and mostly how it’s never too late to start again.

- BET announces the next phase of its nonpartisan #ReclaimYourVote campaign, which declares the inaugural National Black Voter Day to be recognized on September 18, 2020. In partnership with the National Urban League and an expanding list of over 40 key partners, BET will launch various initiatives and provide content to inform, empower and mobilize Black Americans’ participation in the November election. Resources will assist in getting voters registered, demystify some of the confusing processes, as well as provide guidance on voting rights restoration for eligible voters, and help voters create their voting plan to ensure their voices are heard.  Blake Griffin (six-time NBA All-Star), Caron Butler (NBA Champion), Desmond Meade (President, FRRC/Voting Rights Activist), Dwane Casey (Champion Basketball Coach), Erica Campbell (Recording Artist), Jaren Jackson, Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies center), Jonica T. Gibbs (Actor, BET’s Twenties), Marc H. Morial (President & CEO, National Urban League), MAJOR. (Grammy Nominated Musician), Morgan DeBaun (Founder & CEO, Blavity, Inc), Mignon Von (Actor, Tyler Perry’s Sistas), Offset (Rapper), Rapsody (Recording Artist), Soledad O'Brien (Journalist/Producer), Stacey Abrams (Founder, Fair Fight Action), Ms. Tina Knowles Lawson (Co-Founder, Where Art Can Occur), Udonis Haslem (three-time NBA Champion), Vivek Ranadivé (Sacramento Kings Governor) and more are lending their voices to this powerful campaign with original PSAs that will be dispersed across BET’s platforms and by impact partners to their constituents. Additionally, a roster of media partners have joined these efforts, including Black Enterprise, Bounce, Entertainment Tonight, The Root, The Shade Room and The Skimm, as well as BET’s sibling networks MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central. National Black Voter Day coincides with some of the country’s earliest voting days in states like South Dakota and Minnesota – the latter being ground zero of the fight for racial justice, since the killing of George Floyd.

57 Channels and Only This is On: September 13, 2020

Lovecraft Country: So now we got an Indiana Jones episode… cool. Thoug I believe this was the first episode with a B plot that did not really have anything to do with the main story. I wonder if we will get more of that going forward or was it just an anomaly. We Hunt Together: So much for Baba refusing to kill the teacher guy, Freddie actually did it herself this time. And she did not think this one threw. She was lucky to get away with the gay lovers going awry storyline, but I cannot see her spinning this in anyway positive for her. Especially when the episode ends with roadblocks everywhere and a gun pointed at her. Raised By Wolves: So Ragnar is now the leader? Not bad considering that is not really him. Though I am unclear who he really is. But I think it is quite obvious that the rapist is the little girl’s father. But I do think the Earth flashbacks are more interesting than the stuff happening on the moon.

Around the Tubes: September 12, 2020

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 Monsterland, Hulu, The Circus, U2, Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Shania Twain, Of Monsters and Men, Pearl Jam, James Blake, Taylor Swift, and The Chi.

- Encounters with mermaids, fallen angels, and other strange beasts drive broken people to desperate acts in Monsterland, an anthology series based on the collection of stories from Nathan Ballingrud’s “North American Lake Monsters”.  The series star Kaitlyn Dever, Jonathan Tucker, Charlie Tahan, Nicole Beharie, Hamish Linklater, Marquis Rodriguez, Bill Camp, Michael Hsu Rosen, Taylor Schilling, Roberta Colindrez, Adria Arjona, Trieu Tran, Kelly Marie Tran, Mike Colter and Adepero Oduye.  Monsterland is created, written, and executive produced by Mary Laws (THE NEON DEMON, Succession, Preacher) and executive produced by Babak Anvari (UNDER THE SHADOW, WOUNDS), Lucan Toh (AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN, UNDER THE SHADOW, WOUNDS), Megan Ellison and Sue Naegle.  Ali Krug will serve as Co-EP.  The series is produced by Annapurna Television.  All 8 episodes premiere Friday, October 2^nd, only on Hulu.


- Hulu is excited to announce that four Original Series and one Original Film will be participating in New York Comic Con. Be sure to check out virtual panels featuring the cast and creators of our upcoming horror series Helstrom and Monsterland, animated series Animaniacs and M.O.D.O.K. and horror film BOOKS OF BLOOD. Virtual panel timing and details coming soon.

- HE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE CRAZIEST POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ON EARTH continues its fifth season this Sunday with a look at how the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the way people vote in the presidential election. Hosts John Heilemann, Alex Wagner and Mark McKinnon, along with guest contributor Jennifer Palmieri, examine the national fight over the mail-in ballots, election-year cuts at the Postal Service, and looming questions over the possibility of legal battles after Election Day. The series also explores the fallout from Bob Woodward's new book, Rage, and what it means for President Trump's re-election bid.  For a preview, go to: https://youtu.be/c01JqgNJDEQ.

- Island Records, Interscope, and UMe today announce the 20^th Anniversary reissue of U2's global smash hit album All That You Can't Leave Behind. This multi-format anniversary edition release, featuring a brand new 12-track remaster of the record, and a 51-track Super Deluxe box set is to be released on the actual date of the 20^th anniversary, October 30, 2020.  The anniversary also sees the release of an acoustic version of "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of." Watch brand new lyric video HERE.  All That You Can't Leave Behind is the tenth studio album from U2. Released in October 2000, the original 11-track record included the hit singles "Beautiful Day," "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of," "Elevation" and "Walk On" and went to Number 1 in 32 countries around the world. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno and recorded in Dublin and France, All That You Can't Leave Behind won 7 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album, and is the only album in history to have multiple tracks win the award for Record Of The Year ("Beautiful Day" in 2001 and "Walk On" in 2002).

- Yusuf / Cat Stevens today unveils a 2020 reimaging of his seminal hit “Father and Son.” The song is the latest release from his highly anticipated forthcoming album Tea for the Tillerman² (out September 18th on UMe), an album that sees Yusuf recast the same eleven songs from his era-defining album for a new age, with dramatic results.  As the song reaches its 50th anniversary, “Father and Son” continues to endure as deeply as ever in the hearts of listeners, a true song for all times. This brand new version sees Yusuf singing both parts of the song - the role of the father brought together digitally with a recording of his younger-self, in the role of the son, originally recorded at his historic premiere performance at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles in 1970. The effect of the two generations of one man duetting is hauntingly uncanny and gives a whole new level of rarity to this most profound song.

- International icon Shania Twain, the best-selling female country artist of all-time in the US, announced the 25th anniversary of her GRAMMY-winning breakthrough album with The Woman in Me: Diamond Edition, on Good Morning America August 14 during their "Summer Concert Series." Watch the performances below.  Available October 2, via Mercury Nashville/UMG Recordings, Inc., the Diamond Edition contains a newly remastered version of the genre-busting, multi-platinum album.  The Diamond Edition also includes previously unreleased tracks, live recordings, and mixes that trace the evolution of an album that changed the way country music sounded. The Woman in Me: Diamond Edition will be available in two- and three-CD configurations, with the remastered album available in LP and Limited-Edition color variant LP versions, as well.  Listen or pre-order The Woman in Me: Diamond Edition now HERE. Pre-order The Woman in Me: Diamond Edition now and receive the "Any Man Of Mine" digital EP, which includes the remastered album track, the Live From Las Vegas version, and the Shania Vocal Mix.

- Multiplatinum Icelandic quintet Of Monsters and Men return with a brand-new single entitled “Visitor.” The track is the first song off of a body of work coming at the top of 2021 in celebration of the group’s tenth anniversary together. Stream “Visitor” HERE and watch the official music video HERE! Regarding “Visitor,” co-lead vocalist and guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir commented, “‘Visitor’ is a song about disconnection and being on the fringe of change, seeing everything you once knew disappear, and finding yourself in the role of the visitor. It was written and recorded when the world was a completely different place, but the post-apocalyptic world of the video seems fitting. We shot the music video for it in Iceland in the freezing cold of February right before the pandemic hit. We are so very excited to finally share this song with you. Much love.”

- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Pearl Jam launched an initiative to encourage their fans to join them and take the “Take-Three Pledge: Vote by Mail, Recruit Three Friends, and Don’t Wait”.  Voting by mail increases participation and ensures that voters can cast their ballot easily, safely and securely.  “Voting freely and easily is our ultimate right as citizens of these United States” said Pearl Jam Bass Guitarist Jeff Ament. “It’s a hard-fought gift from our foremothers and forefathers.  Join us in our Take Three Pledge: Vote by Mail, Recruit Three Friends, and Don’t Wait. Learn more www.pearljam.com or text PJVotes to 52886 and join us.”

- GRAMMY® Award-winning UK singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer James Blake has officially released his cover of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed” with accompanying music video.  Listen to “Godspeed”: HERE.  Watch the music video: HERE.  James Blake, who produced, arranged and played on the original version that appears on Frank Ocean’s 2016 album Blonde, initially performed the cover as a snippet on his Instagram Live. The clip of Blake’s reimagined version organically caught fire and incited a flurry of activity on TikTok. Almost immediately, it inspired nearly 500,000 videos and accumulated a total of over 5.2 million views on the platform. Press were quick to praise the musician’s stripped-down piano rendition with Hypebeast noting, “He exudes his ghostly vocals throughout, layering his soul-inflecting delivery over the skeletal piano chords.” 

- Standing out as the top-selling record of 2020 worldwide, Taylor Swift’s critically-acclaimed, 5 star album, folkore, has achieved “the longest consecutive run at #1 since 2016” with six straight weeks atop the Billboard 200. This success has translated worldwide as the record clinches #1 on three continents. Across the pond, folklore notably became “the only album in the UK to spend three consecutive weeks at #1 in 2020,” and Taylor emerged as “the first international artist since May 2019 to log three consecutive weeks at #1 on the Official Album Chart in the UK.” Down under, she became “the first female artist since February 2019 to hold #1 on the Official Album Chart in Australia for four consecutive weeks.” In addition, folklore captured #1 on the Official Album Chart in Ireland for four nonconsecutive weeks and seized #1 for three weeks in Canada.

- SHOWTIME has picked up the hit drama series THE CHI for a fourth season. Created and executive produced by Emmy^® winner Lena Waithe (Twenties, Boomerang) and executive produced by Academy Award^®, Emmy and Golden Globe^® winner Common (Selma), THE CHI is a timely coming-of-age story centering on a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption. Season three cast included Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (Queen of Katwe), Jacob Latimore (Sleight), Alex Hibbert (Moonlight), Yolonda Ross (Treme), Shamon Brown Jr., Michael V. Epps and Birgundi Baker (Station 19). Justin Hillian (Snowfall) will return as showrunner and executive producer for the fourth season. THE CHI is produced by Touchstone Television (HOMELAND). Season three of THE CHI was up double-digits across platforms over last season and doubled its audience on streaming platforms.

The Twenty Best Television Shows of 2019-2020

1. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist 1.x

2. The Great 1.x

3. Harley Quinn 1.x/2.x

4. The Good Place 4.x

5. Looking for Alaska 1.x

6. Dollface 1.x

7. Veronica Mars 4.x

8. Watchmen 1.x

9. Dickinson 1.x

10. G.L.O.W. 3.x

11. Castle Rock 2.x

12. Harlots 3.x

13. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 3.x

14. Normal People 1.x

15. The Outsider 1.x

16. Love Life 1.x

17. Little Fires Everywhere 1.x

18. This Way Up 1.x

19. Homeland 8.x

20. Impulse 2.x


Shows that aired a majority of their season between July 2019 and August 2020 were eligible for this list.

57 Channels and Only This is On: September 6, 2020

Lovecraft Country:  So is this just going to be a weird, mostly self-contained, story of the week that they are putting the characters in that are just tangentially related to each other?  First episode was a road trip, the second was about a cult, and this week we got a haunted house.  I guess it keeps the story going at warped speed.  At the start of last week, I just thought we would spend the entire season at the mansion.  But creepy daughter did show back up at the end kind of tying things back to the storyline.  For now, the show has my attention.

We Hunt Together:  Well that explains a lot about Freddie.  Really both of their backstories ask can some of your adult actions be overlooked if your childhood was really bad?  I do think there is a line but murder; even of bad people is on the wrong side of that time.

Raised By Wolves:  Well, that was weird.  Not necessarily good weird.  I spent most of the first three episodes wondering why Ragnar Lothbrooke has a mullet.  And was his group supposed to be the Templars?  I mean his new group; I am not entirely sure what he was before the plastic surgery.  And just who programed the robots? 

Around the Tubes: September 5, 2020

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 Beastie Boys, S#!%HOUSE, Driving While Black, Kingdom of Silence, The Circus, In My Blood it Runs, Plants and Animals, Glass Animals, April / 月音, Gracie Abrams, LOVA, ABBA, and Selena Gomez.

- On October 23, 2020, UMe will release Beastie Boys Music, a 20-song collection covering the GRAMMY® Award winning and multi-platinum selling Beastie Boys’ recording career. The collection is a companion piece to the critically acclaimed documentary Beastie Boys Story, currently nominated for 5 Emmys®, and the group’s best seller Beastie Boys Book, which ascended to #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers List—topping both the Nonfiction Print Hardcover and Nonfiction Combined Print & E-Book Best Sellers charts.  Beastie Boys Music will be available digitally, on CD and as a 180gram 2LP vinyl set and can be pre-ordered here.  Beastie Boys Music features 20 Beastie Boys classics spanning the band’s 30+ year career including “Fight For Your Right,” “Brass Monkey,” “Paul Revere” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” from their Diamond-certified 1986 No. 1 debut Licensed To Ill, “Shake Your Rump” and “Hey Ladies” from their 1989 reinvention Paul’s Boutique and “So What’Cha Want” and “Pass The Mic” from 1992’s multi-platinum Check Your Head, which hit Top Ten on the Billboard 200 chart.  Also included are “Sure Shot” and “Sabotage” from 1994’s Ill Communication, which saw the band return to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, “Body Movin’” and the universal smash hit “Intergalactic” from their GRAMMY®-winning 1998 No. 1 album Hello Nasty, “Ch-Check It Out” from 2004’s To The 5 Boroughs, which marked the band’s third consecutive Billboard No. 1 debut, as well as “Make Some Noise” and “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” from 2011’s critically acclaimed Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

- Lonely college freshman Alex (Cooper Raiff) has closed himself off from his classmates, who all appear to have this whole "college thing" figured out. Home is 1500 miles away and all he can think about is transferring to a school closer to his family. Everything changes one night when Alex takes a leap and attends a party at his campus' notorious "Shithouse," where he forges a strong connection with his RA, Maggie (Dylan Gelula). When she ignores him the next day and seems to have forgotten about their amazing night, Alex feels desperate for things to go back to how they were before. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize (Narrative Film) at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival.  S#!%HOUSE In Theaters + On Demand October 16th.



- PBS announced today  DRIVING WHILE BLACK: RACE, SPACE AND MOBILITY IN AMERICA – a ground-breaking, two-hour documentary film by acclaimed historian Dr. Gretchen Sorin and Emmy–winning director Ric Burns – will air on PBS on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 9:00 p.m. ET (check local listings).  Chronicling the riveting history and personal experiences – at once liberating and challenging, harrowing and inspiring, deeply revealing and profoundly transforming  –  of African Americans on the road from the advent of the automobile through the seismic changes of the 1960s and beyond – DRIVING WHILE BLACK explores the deep background of a recent phrase rooted in realities that have been an indelible part of the African American experience for hundreds of years – told in large part through the stories of the men, women and children who lived through it.

- SHOWTIME announced today it will premiere the Showtime Documentary Film KINGDOM OF SILENCE, exploring the complicated dynamic between the United States and Saudi Arabia as a backdrop to the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, on Friday, October 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The film is directed by Oscar nominated and Emmy winning filmmaker Rick Rowley (16 SHOTS, Dirty Wars) and will premiere on the second anniversary of Khashoggi’s death. Oscar and Emmy^® award winning director Alex Gibney (ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI) is executive producing the film in collaboration with Emmy and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright (The Looming Tower).



- THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE CRAZIEST POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ON EARTH continues its fifth season this Sunday as the presidential candidates visit Kenosha, Wisconsin in the aftermath of protests and violence over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.  Hosts John Heilemann, Alex Wagner and Mark McKinnon, along with guest contributor Jennifer Palmieri, are on the ground to explore how the demand for racial justice and the tension between police and protesters is impacting the presidential race in this key battleground state.  For a preview, go to: https://youtu.be/jKqmJW3JB4E.

- Set in Australia’s Northern Territory, In My Blood it Runs follows Dujuan, a young Aborginal boy with a spiritual connection to, and vast knowledge of, his cultural ancestry. At home in Alice Springs, Dujuan is surrounded by his loving family, which includes his mother, his two brothers, and his maternal grandmother Nana Carol, with whom he has a special bond.  Directed by award-winning Australian filmmaker Maya Newell, In My Blood it Runs has its national broadcast debut on the PBS documentary series POV and pov.org on September 21, 2020 at 8 pm (check local listings). POV is American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, now in its 33rd season.

- Montreal’s Plants and Animals released a brand new single and video for “Le Queens” from their forthcoming album The Jungle out October 23 via Secret City Records. A French song featuring Adèle Trottier-Rivard on vocals, the song was inspired by an evening spent in Queens, NY. The new song and video premiered this morning via Consequence of Sound, alongside an Origins feature about the track. The band is also announcing brand new tour dates, in what we all hope will be a post COVID-19 world. Find a list of upcoming tour dates below, with additional dates to be added shortly. The Jungle is now available for pre-order. Watch the video for “Le Queens” via YouTube: https://found.ee/Yauo

- Frontman Dave Bayley of Glass Animals performs a stripped-back version of the band’s hit single “Heat Waves” from their critically acclaimed new album Dreamland for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s #PlayAtHome series. The stunning, live performance was shot socially-distanced at London’s Kew Gardens—watch it HERE!  Dreamland is Glass Animals’ most successful album of their career—it debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart in the United States, becoming the band’s highest charting album to date in the US. The album also hit #1 on the Rock Album Chart, #2 on the Alternative Album Chart, #2 on the Tastemakers Chart, #3 on the Top Album Sales Chart and #1 on Neilson’s Music Digital Album Chart. Not to mention, Dreamland also debuted at #2 on the UK Album Chart. The album has garnered over 160 million combined global streams since its release last month, and “Heat Waves” continues to grow across streaming platforms, peaking within the top 10 on Spotify’s US Viral Chart. The band’s latest single off the album, “Tangerine,” charted at #32 at Alternative Radio this week and peaked at #44 on Spotify’s Top 200 Chart.

- With her new album April / 月音 due for release on October 9th via Bella Union, and having previously shared the tracks "Dandelions / Liminal" and "Mary", today Emmy The Great shares another standout track, “A Window / O’Keeffe”. Listen to it HERE.  Of the track Emmy says: “A Window/ O'Keeffe was written about my last summer living in Brooklyn. I’d just traveled to China for the first time and had a moment in a temple, and the entire summer I would only wear ‘lucky’ colors - royal yellow, dusty orange, or the red that scares away ghosts. It was a summer of bright sun and dizzying freedom, the kind that only happens when your life is about to change. The city was a film set of burst fire hydrants and music playing constantly from open windows. On the grass outside my apartment, people documented their lives on their phones, and I walked through their videos on my way to meet friends. The world was shifting, and maybe we didn't always like where it was going, but it was summer now, and we were together. When I finished the song in Hong Kong that October, the colors of an O'Keeffe exhibit I'd been to see at the Brooklyn museum had seeped into my memories of that time. In many ways, this song is about color, though it's also about the friendship between women, something I leaned on as I moved into the next phase of my life.”

- Vevo announces the release of Gracie Abrams DSCVR at Home performance of “Friend.” Vevo DSCVR focuses on the development of emerging artists, through performance content and careful curation. Vevo has a long history of helping emerging artists break through to new and wider audiences. Past alumni of Vevo’s DSCVR series include Billie Eilish, AB6IX and Alfie Templeman. Vevo is committed to working with artists at an early stage of their career to create unique content that brings their music to life visually and provides exposure to new audiences through the platform. Song writing can represent different things for different artists. It can be about catharsis, it can mean letting go, or it can be an escape. For 20-year-old, LA-born Gracie Abrams, it means everything. It's also been an evolution. At first song writing was purely a way of letting her emotions out, with songs built around teenage journal entries, and often recorded solo, in her bedroom, and released via demos on Instagram (now sitting on 313k followers) or Soundcloud. More recently, having found a group of collaborators she trusts, it's become about really honing the songs until they're simultaneously as specific and as universal as possible.  “Friend” is now streaming on all platforms. Keep up with exclusive content from artists all over the world on YouTube.com/Vevo.

- Swedish pop singer and songwriter LOVA wonders what you would do if you only had “One Day Left” on her new single out now via Universal Music AB/Republic Records. Listen HERE.  Breaking boundaries yet again, she candidly opens up with unfiltered lyrics and unpredictable production. Warbling keys echo underneath ponderings such as “But what if we knew that by tomorrow we would die? We would probably have the confidence to kiss the guy we like.” The synths swell into a danceable bridge before the chantable hook, “If you got one day left, would you waste it on insecurities and jealousy that takes up your time?” It transmits a powerful reminder to carpe diem in our current world situation.

- This October, Polar Music/UMe celebrates Super Trouper, the album that soundtracked the Christmas season and far beyond 40 years ago. The first of only two albums that ABBA made in the 80s, Super Trouper was their sixth consecutive No.1 in Sweden, a chart-topper around Europe and a US Top 20 album. Powered by classic singles, including the title track, “The Winner Takes It All” and “Lay All Your Love On Me," Super Trouper became the best-selling album in the UK in 1980. Taking its name from a large follow spotlight used on stage, the Super Trouper album seems a bright, shining statement, but in 2020, we now realize on how many levels ABBA worked. Of course, there is the beautiful shining pop, forever remembered in the smash-hit musical and film Mamma Mia! and the full dancefloors that ABBA constantly inspires. But there is also the masked sadness – virtually every fan old and new is aware that the story of ABBA is entwined with two star-crossed unions and breakups, those of Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad and Benny Andersson. Finally, the musicianship, production and arrangement, which makes Super Trouper sound as fresh and sparkling four decades later as when it was first heard in 1980.

- Selena Gomez just released her first-ever Rare Beauty makeup collection and the girl did NOT come to play. She gave us one of the most inclusive beauty launches we've seen and I, for one, am utterly speechless. This isn't some 20, 30, or even 40-shade drop – we're talking 48 freakin' shades for both foundation and concealer.  As announced earlier this week, the line includes every single beauty staple you need for your getting-ready routine, like liquid lipstick, tinted lip balm, cream blush, foundation, concealer, highlighter, liquid liner, and brow gel – all with massive shade ranges of their own. As a surprise, the Rare Beauty drop also included some applicators and skincare products we weren't expecting, like brushes, a makeup sponge, an oil-blotter kit, setting/primer spray, and a liquid primer (which comes with added sparkle, btw). And as a reminder, everything in the collection is 100% vegan and cruelty-free.  Along with its release on the Rare Beauty website, the entire drop is also shoppable at Sephora – so you can stock up on those rewards points. 

Around the Tubes: August 29, 2020

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 Elton John, Black Thought, James Bay, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Love Fraud, The Circus. Iliza’s Comedy Tailgate Tour, Ben 10 vs. The Universe: The Movie, and The Comey Rule.

- Elton John celebrates the 50^th Anniversary of his career-catapulting performance at the historic Troubadour, in Los Angeles, CA. On August 25, 1970, Elton took the stage for the first time in the United States, a gig that would quickly mark the beginning of his legendary career. Playing to a star-studded, packed house of 300 people, Elton was introduced by Neil Diamond before performing for the likes of  Quincy Jones, Peggy Lipton, Linda Ronstandt, Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the Beach Boys, Van Dyke Parks, Don Henley, Randy Newman, David Crosby, Leon Russell, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. His set consisted of songs off his debut album, in addition to many unreleased tracks such as the timeless “Your Song,” from his then forthcoming eponymous album Elton John. The concert was highlighted by an extraordinary review from the Los Angeles Times’s music critic, Robert Hilburn, and has since been heralded as one of the greatest concerts of the rock era.  Also celebrating its 50^th anniversary is the aforementioned, critically acclaimed debut album, Elton John. In celebration of this golden anniversary, a limited edition Record Store Day exclusive deluxe gatefold 2LP version of the record will be available on August 29, 2020. Pressed on transparent purple vinyl, the first disc features the 2016 remaster of the original album, while the second contains a selection of bonus tracks off the 2008 CD Deluxe Edition, never released on vinyl, as well as two previously unreleased demos of “Border Song” and “Bad Side Of The Moon.” On 30^th October the original Elton John album will also be released as a limited-edition gatefold 1LP gold 180 gram vinyl edition with download code. 

- Legendary MC for GRAMMY® Award-winning platinum-certified hip-hop luminaries The Roots, Black Thought debuts new track “Good Morning,” feat. Pusha T, Killer Mike and Swizz Beatz via Republic Records. This release marks the second track off of Black Thought’s highly anticipated Streams of Thought Vol. 3: Cane & Able, which is set for release September 18, 2020.  Listen to “Good Morning” feat. Pusha T, Killer Mike and Swizz Beatz: HERE

-  James Bay made history by being the first artist to film at The London Eye, performing his hit single “Chew On My Heart” for The Late Late Show with James Corden. Check out James Bay’s Performance of “Chew On My Heart” for The Late Late Show with James Corden Here!  In addition to the performance Bay sat down with James Corden for an interview to discuss his unique connection to Bradley Cooper & A Star Is Born, how he pulled off the incredible performance for the show and the inspiration behind his upcoming new album – his longtime girlfriend Lucy. Watch the interview here!

- Gibson Brands--the iconic American instrument maker--has partnered with Orion Pictures on the new film Bill & Ted Face the Music as the official guitar brand of the movie. The film finds the duo--now middle-aged best friends who have yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny--as they head out for a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it. Along the way, the Wyld Stallyns will be helped by their families, old friends, and a few music legends. The third installment in the film franchise starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter is due out on Friday, August 28, in theaters and on demand, pre-order here: https://billandted3.com/watch.  Over 30 guitars from Gibson, Epiphone and Kramer are featured throughout Bill & Ted Face the Music including “Bill” S. Preston ESQ. (Winter) and “Ted” Theodore Logan (Reeves) epic Wyld Stallyns hero guitars, the classic Gibson SG Special, and the Gibson Flying V.

- SHOWTIME has released the premiere episode of its new docu-series LOVE FRAUD early for free online sampling, on streaming platforms and on demand. The series is executive produced and directed by Emmy winners and Academy Award^® nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. The premiere episode is available for free now on YouTube and SHO.com. LOVE FRAUD will officially premiere on air this Sunday, August 30 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.  The episode is also available across multiple television and streaming providers’ devices, websites, applications and authenticated online services and their free on demand channels. In addition, the season premiere is available for free on the SHOWTIME stand-alone service at www.showtime.com.

- THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE CRAZIEST POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ON EARTH continues its fifth season this Sunday with an inside look at the 2020 Republican National Convention. 

Hosts John Heilemann, Alex Wagner and Mark McKinnon, along with guest contributor Jennifer Palmieri, convene in the nation’s capital as President Trump and his allies make a case for re-election amid an historic pandemic and mounting protests following the death of Jacob Blake, an African American man shot by Wisconsin police. For a preview, go to: https://youtu.be/VqNXURBcSWs.

- Coming to a Drive-In location near you, Comedian Iliza Shlesinger is hitting the road with Iliza’s Comedy Tailgate Tour presented by Monster Energy. With five Netflix specials currently streaming, including her most recent Unveiled and Elder Millennial, she is one of today’s leading comedians with a legion of fans who create and wear their own Iliza inspired swag to her shows. The 9-city trek will bring Iliza to drive-in theaters across the U.S. this October. Socially distanced and safe in their cars, fans will catch every second of Iliza’s set in real time through their car radio. Tickets pre-sales start today and general public tickets go on sale this Friday, August 28^th at 10 a.m. local at www.iliza.com.

- Ben Tennyson is back on the alien-fighting scene, and expanding to take on the universe as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Ben 10 vs. The Universe: The Movie globally on Digital October 11 and on DVD October 27, 2020. Follow the alien-transforming kid hero with all-new powers and settings on this intergalactic adventure, filled with action-packed bonus content including Animatics, exclusive to the DVD. Ben 10 vs. The Universe: The Movie carries a suggested retail price of $14.99 for Digital, $19.99 for the DVD ($24.99 in Canada), and is rated TV-Y7. Ben 10 vs. The Universe: The Movie has an order due date of September 22, 2020.

- SHOWTIME has released the official trailer for the upcoming limited series THE COMEY RULE, starring Emmy^® winner Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) as former FBI Director James Comey and Emmy winner Brendan Gleeson (Mr. Mercedes) as President Donald J. Trump. The two-part series will premiere on consecutive nights: Sunday, September 27 and Monday, September 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The full series will be available for on-demand streaming or download on the SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME ANYTIME^® apps and partner on-demand platforms starting at 12:01 a.m. ET/PT on Sunday, September 27. Based on the No. 1 New York Times bestselling book A Higher Loyalty and more than a year of additional interviews with a number of key principals, THE COMEY RULE was adapted for the screen and directed by Oscar^® nominated screenwriter Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, Shattered Glass).  To watch the trailer, go to: https://youtu.be/Dc8XsWQMcs8.

57 Channels and Only This is On: August 23, 2020

Lovecraft Country: Well that was a lot weirder than I expected. Did not expect to see Jackie Robinson murdering aliens with his baseball bat. But that road trip seemed a bit unnecessary and just delayed everyone from getting to the titular location. I did not quite understand how Jess Merriweather went from asking her sister for a place to stay for a couple weeks and then was packing the car.

The Chi: Oh wow, (barring a major miracle) they killed off Ronnie right after redeeming himself by saving Keisha. But why did it take Coogie’s boy so long to seek retribution? And why do it right after he became a hero? And just who was that kid? Kind of keep to go out by someone we have never seen again. But I guess that is Chicago violence for you.

We Hunt Together: “I’m used to feeling smarter than most people.” Kind of sounds like famous last words. Certainly it was not that smart to kill the dude who you pinned your murder on and try to make it seem like they were homosexual lovers despite one dude having double digit contact on a dating act with females. Also did not help you had to kill a third dude while staging a suicide of the second guy you killed. Is this a low key black comedy? Those British do have a warped sense of humour.