Around the Tubes: May 21, 2022

               

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on Only Murders in the Building, We Hunt Together, Flatbush Mistameanors, City on a Hill, Beastie Boys, James Bay, John Legend, Em Beihold, Oh Wonder, Marcus King, Sarah Darling, Paris Jackson, Ural Thomas And The Pain, Bootsy Collins, Aubrey Haddard, and the Hulu Originals Summer 2022 Programming Slate/

- Check out Hulu’s new teaser and key art for the upcoming second season of "Only Murders in the Building." The new season returns on Tuesday, June 28th with two episodes. New episodes stream Tuesdays.

- SHOWTIME has announced the second season of the cat-and-mouse drama series WE HUNT TOGETHER will roll out Friday, June 24, when all six episodes will be available on streaming and on demand for SHOWTIME subscribers before making its on-air debut with its first two episodes on Sunday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT. Subsequent episodes will air Sundays starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT.  The London-set series stars Hermione Corfield (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Eve Myles (Broadchurch) and Babou Ceesay (GUERILLA), and joining the series for season two will be Colin Morgan (The Fall).  From BBC Studios Drama Productions, all six episodes of the hour-long series are written by Gaby Hull. 

- SHOWTIME has released a first-look trailer of season two of the critically acclaimed comedy series FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS. The series is set to return to SHOWTIME on Friday, June 17 on streaming and on demand for all SHOWTIME subscribers, before making its on-air debut on Sunday, June 19 at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The series is created and written by Kevin Iso (That Damn Michael Che) and Dan Perlman (Cramming), who also star. FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS follows Dan and Kevin, who play two longtime friends within a richly drawn community of characters, seeking to climb out of their heads and connect with others. The series also stars Kristin Dodson (The Shivering Truth), Hassan Johnson (The Wire) and Kareem Green. The 10-episode second season was filmed in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.

- The third season of acclaimed Boston drama series CITY ON A HILL starring Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge will now premiere on Sunday, July 31 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. The original premiere date of July 10 has been moved due to scheduling shifts. The series also stars Jill Hennessy, Lauren E. Banks and Matthew Del Negro, and guest stars including Corbin Bernsen, Joanne Kelly and Ernie Hudson.  Season three of CITY ON A HILL brings us to Boston's high society Beacon Hill. Having left the FBI and thrown his badge into Boston Harbor, Jackie Rohr (Bacon) lands a lavish new gig running security for a wealthy family. Life is good until secrets begin to unravel. When an investigation opens, ADA Decourcy Ward (Hodge) sees an opportunity to finally rip out the machinery perpetuating a broken criminal justice system. Siobhan Quays (Banks), representing a construction worker who was severely injured on the Big Dig, encounters the city's corruption first-hand, all while coping with the traumatic events of her past year. As Jenny Rohr (Hennessy) can attest, given her history with her father, some experiences will haunt you beyond your breaking point.

- To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Beastie Boys’ multi-platinum album Check Your Head, on July 15, UMe will release a limited-edition reissue of the rare 4LP deluxe version of the album, originally released in 2009 as an artist store exclusive. The long out-of-print and much sought-after box set features the 2009 remaster of the original double album, plus two extra LPs of bonus content including remixes, live versions, and B-sides. All four LPs are pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a fabric wrapped, stamped, hardcover case. The Check Your Head 4LP box set can be purchased at participating independent retail outlets and will also be available to pre-order exclusively through the Beastie Boys online store, HERE.  Originally released in April 1992, Check Your Head was a milestone for Beastie Boys on multiple levels: It was their first album to be produced, in its entirety, by Beastie Boys with Mario Caldato Jr. and to feature keyboard player Keyboard Money Mark, as well as the first to be recorded at the band’s own G-Son studios in Atwater Village, CA. Most significantly, however, Check Your Head marked the return of live instrumentation to the forefront and backbone of the Beastie Boys sound, with the bulk of the album featuring Mike D on drums, Adrock on guitar and MCA on bass for the first time since the band’s early 1980s hardcore punk recordings.

- Three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multi-platinum singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist James Bay releases the official music video for his new single “One Life.”  Watch the official music video for “One Life” HERE.  On the “One Life” video Bay said: “From the moment I was presented with the idea for the video I was totally moved. It just felt right; the perfect way to tell the story of the song. The actors and directors did a beautiful job and I'm so excited for you to see it. Hope you love it x”

- Multi-platinum, 12-time GRAMMY Award-winner John Legend today released “Dope,” the first song from his forthcoming new album. Click HERE to listen.  “Dope,” produced by Ian Kirkpatrick and Ryan Tedder, is co-written by Legend, Charlie Puth, Ryan Tedder, Ian Kirkpatrick and rapper J.I.D, who is also featured on the track. The moving and infectious song sets the tone for getting summer started with its block-party vibes and sensual lyrics about everything you find dope about that someone special. HERE is a link to the Lyric Video for “Dope”  HERE is a link to John’s social Post for “Dope”

- Cemented as one of the hottest new artists of 2022, gold-certified Los Angeles singer and songwriter Em Beihold (pronounced bye-hold) reveals a new single and music video entitled “Too Precious” today via Moon Projects/Republic Records.  Watch the music video for “Too Precious” — HERE. Listen to “Too Precious”— HERE.  The track tiptoes between finger-snaps, jazzy piano, and a thumping beat as she asserts herself as an outlier once more. Right from the jump, Em confesses, “I’ve got my own idea of fun, don’t need to get drunk at the club, start kissing strangers, don’t need the danger.” Her voice teems with energy on the chorus, and she makes an empowering promise, “I do what I want.” The accompanying visual translates this vibe to the screen seamlessly as Em shines for the camera.

- Oh Wonder has today dropped brand new track “True Romance,” which is available now on Republic Records. The unique London band’s new album, 22 Make, will follow on July 22nd, previewed by brooding first single “Magnificent” and the anthemic “Fuck it I Love You.” Currently on a huge world tour, Oh Wonder is in the midst of the US leg, which wraps on May 31st in Los Angeles at The Wiltern.  Beautifully intimate electronic pop, “True Romance” was inspired by the film of the same name, and connected the dots for Oh Wonder between the 22 Break and 22 Make projects. “We recorded it three different times. It started out being way more pop and fast and really intense,” Josephine says, “but realised that it translated beautifully just singing it at the piano; it’s actually quite a simple, beautiful chorus. So we slowed it down, chilled out the production, and let the song breathe a little more.” 

- Marcus King announced the release of “Rescue Me,” the latest preview track from his forthcoming solo album, Young Blood. The track, premiered today with American Songwriter, blends swampy percussion, fuzzed out guitar and King’s smoldering vocal delivery, sharing his plea for salvation from the path of excess he was walking at the time of making the record.  Listen here: https://mk.lnk.to/rescueme

- Sarah Darling has announced the release of her new EP, Darling, with the focal track, “Get To Me,” – out today. Released on BE Darling Records via ToneTree, Darling is available worldwide on all streaming services here. Darling spoke about the new EP, saying, “When I listen to the Darling EP, I hear a grown-up version of me. I feel like someone who’s let go and allowed myself to share some messy emotions. It sounds like freedom and takes me back to those first records that influenced me as a kid. There’s something in my soul that connects with those driving songs that take you somewhere, and throughout this entire collection, I feel that. I love who I’ve become through this body of work, and it’s helped heal some wounds. I’m so grateful to my producers, Cameron Jaymes and Emily Shackleton, for building this world with me.”

- Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, and activist paris jackson unveils her brand new single entitled “lighthouse” out now via Republic Records—listen to “lighthouse” HERE. “lighthouse” was produced by singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Butch Walker.  The single is released alongside the official music video, which was inspired by the iconic video for Nirvana’s “Sliver.” In the video, paris pays homage with a photo of Kurt Cobain—a full circle moment to the original video. Watch the “lighthouse” video HERE.

- With their new album Dancing Dimensions due out 3rd June via Bella Union, Ural Thomas And The Pain today share a final pre-release track, “Promises," from their much-anticipated LP.  Of the track Ural says:  “The song Promises talks about one of the most powerful things I believe in, that tomorrow is not promised to us so what we do today really matters. I try not to promise anything to anyone in the future, instead I strive to give all the love to the world that I can right here, right now.” Click HERE to listen. 

- In this day and age, a singular, definitive stamp of approval is a hard thing to come by. Unless, of course, you’re the modern funk band Lettuce and THE Bootsy Collins steps into the studio to put his timeless spin on your new record—which is exactly what happened when the band was tracking “Keep That Funk Alive” from their upcoming album Unify. Within the first few seconds of the track, fans are met with one of the dirtiest envelope-filtered bass runs since Mothership Connection, a glowing sign that this group is more than capable in their role of funky preservation. Not so much a passing of the torch as it is a welcoming with open arms, Bootsy and the GRAMMY-nominated sextet of Lettuce—Adam Deitch (drums), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone), Adam ‘Shmeeans’ Smirnoff (guitar), Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes (bass), Nigel Hall (keyboards/vocals), Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom (trumpet)—all join hands in honor of, you guessed it, keeping the Funk alive; an idea which Deitch gleaned from a pre-vax Covid-era Instagram post of Bootsy’s before the two had even met. “Linking up organically with one of the inventors of funk music, eternally iconic bassist and vocalist Bootsy Collins, still feels like a dream,” says Deitch. “Bootsy wants to keep the Funk alive…and we wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Major props to Bootzilla for believing in us!” Fans can listen to “Keep That Funk Alive” right here, pre-order or pre-save Unify digitally ahead of its June 3rd release at this link, and pre-order vinyl and Unify-centric merch bundles here. 

- New York City-based indie-pop singer-songwriter, Aubrey Haddard releases her anthemic indie-rock third single, "Processing Power" today, where she confronts being inundated with constant information, along with a matching lyric video. Haddard's second full-length album, Awake And Talking, will be out August 19, 2022 and is available for pre-order now, via Beverly Martel Records. Aubrey Haddard will be hitting the road in select cities across New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and more this summer. Find tickets on sale now here.  The guitar-driven, heavier-leaning "Processing Power" is Haddard in overdrive–it's the moment a system becomes overloaded. In a fast-paced, 24-hour news cycle that never seems to stop, one can swiftly become overwhelmed with uninterrupted information consumption. The result is a cathartic release where Haddard is able to unleash the emotions that come with being bound to such a perpetual system.

- Hulu Originals Summer 2022 Programming Slate

FILMS / DOCS

The Valet, Premiere Date: May 20, 2022, Rating: PG-13

Look At Me: XXXTENTACION. Premiere Date: May 26, 2022, Rating: TV-MA

Fire Island, Premiere Date: June 3, 2022, Rating: R

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Premiere Date: June 17, 2022, Rating: R

The Princess, Premiere Date: July 1, 2022, Rating: R

Not Okay, Premiere Date: July 29, 2022 (DATE CHANGE), Rating: R

Prey, Premiere Date: August 5, 2022, Rating: R

SERIES

Conversations with Friends, Premiere Date: May 15, 2022 (all-at-once)

Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders, Premiere Date: May 24, 2022 (all-at-once) 

Shoresy, Premiere Date: May 27, 2022 (all-at-once)

FX’s Pistol, Premiere Date: May 31, 2022 (all-at-once)

The Orville: New Horizons, Premiere Date: June 2, 2022 (weekly)

FX’s Under the Banner of Heaven, Finale Date: June 2, 2022

Love, Victor, Premiere Date: June 15, 2022 (all-at-once) (Also streaming on Disney+)

The Kardashians, Finale Date: June 16, 2022

FX’s The Bear, Premiere Date: June 23, 2022 (all-at-once)

Only Murders in the Building, Premiere Date: June 28, 2022 (Weekly)

Maggie, Premiere Date: July 6, 2022 (all-at-once)

Solar Opposites, Premiere Date: July 13, 2022 (all-at-once) - NEW ANNOUNCEMENT

Victoria’s Secret: Angels And Demons, Premiere Date: July 14, 2022 (all-at-once)

FX’s American Horror Stories, Premiere Date: July 21, 2022 (weekly)

FX’s Reservation Dogs, Premiere Date: August 3, 2022 (two-episode premiere, then weekly)

This Fool, Premiere Date: August 12, 2022  (all-at-once) - NEW ANNOUNCEMENT

FX’s The Patient, Premiere Date: August 30, 2022 (three episode premiere, then weekly)

KIDS & FAMILY

The Croods: Family Tree, Premiere Date: June 2, 2022 (all-at-once)

Madagascar: A Little Wild, Premiere Date: June 30, 2022 (all-at-once)

Trolls: TrollsTopia, Premiere Date: August 11, 2022 (all-at-once)

Dragons: The Nine Realms, Premiere Date: August 18, 2022 (all-at-once)

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 15, 2022

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  They have been teasing people dying all season, Alicia go bit, Charli got radiation poison, and then they also revealed this week that John had radiation poisoning, but they still killed him at the end of the episode.  I wonder if his death saves the other two.  But I just do not understand Strand’s motivation.  John admits to framing Howard, but then kills his closest ally to team up with a guy who admits to betraying him who then, shocker, betrayed him again.  Then why not punish the people who stayed?  I get you need June as a nurse, but why not the other two?

 

The First Lady: I once again broke my Wikipedia rule to refresh my memory of if we have seen Lucy on the show before.   It is kind of fascinating how the affair came to public light which I will not go into in case it is covered on the show.  There is also another potential affair that his son claims happens that I wonder if the show will comment on.  This seemed like the hardship episode.  Eleanor had to deal with the affair, we see the start of Betty’s addiction, but Sasha having a very treatable ear infection does not really have the same emotional sting.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  Would quantum fusion really throw the world in chaos that quickly?  Oil is so ingrained over the world; we cannot even integrated electric cars into society.  You know conspiracy theorist would keep about 20% of this country on combustible engines for decades. 

 

The Challenge: All Stars:  Ugg, Wes said he is going to ruin the show and I fear he will do just that.  Though surprising he played it safe when he had the power by going with the second to last players being sent in (granted there were five other people in on that decision) then when Jordan had the chance to replicate after putting the sabotage on him, he was fine with putting Mark in over Wes.  It seemed like everyone but Brad wanted Wes sent in yet they still let Brad save Wes.  And Wes definite is not winning that elimination.  Ugg, that guy is going to weasel his way to the finals.

 

Then we have a new twist with stvrs being added to anyone who wins elimination.  At first I thought this was kind of like the skulls they used on the main show where you are not allowed to run TJ’s final without a skull.  But it seems like you can rack up the stars, Tina now has three.  I do wonder if you beat someone with multiple stars, do you get all of them.  Now I am thinking you will get some sort of advantage in the final; the more stars, the bigger the advantage.  Another question is, will anyone volunteer for elimination just to get a star?

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  Wait, did Julie and Jamie fork two decades ago?  Was this common knowledge?  I know my memory is not as great as it used to be. 

 

Survivor:  Yep, the Do or Die still is stupid.  But I wonder what would have happened had Lindsey chosen to sit out.  Does Johnathan win Immunity by default and there is no Do or Die?  Does Johnathan get the Do or Die by default.  I wonder if production did not think of that outcome.  Even when bribed with food, not that many people sit out.

 

It took a couple weeks but they finally got Drea and all of her advantages out.  Mike is a better actor than I would have guessed because I really thought he had been bamboozled.   The advantage is called Knowledge Is Power and that is two straight seasons where the powerful knowledge was not held with the person with the advantage but with who they told the advantage’s power to.  Way too many people in modern Survivor have loose lips.

 

The Flight Attendant:  Oh my, a very special episode of the show.  Granted, I liked Cassie much more when she was a fun drunk.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  Yet another hour plus episode but at least very little crazy mother this week.  I did not like that they told the story out of order just to have the plot twist that the oldest brother was in on it the whole time.  It just made this episode hard to follow.

 

Made for Love:  Only two more episodes left?  So much to figure out.  Hazel has to find a way to get back control of her body.  The scientists need to get out of the cube.  The FBI need to find the cube.  We need to figure out how the ex-wife fits in to this all.

 

Hacks:  Oh my, suing someone and keeping them in your employment is extremely cruel.  Ava may end up being an indentured servant by the end of the season.  Unless Debra grows a heart and only demands restitutions of a dollar.

 

Halo:  So Master Chief forks.  I got a kick at the incels who got mad at that.  Though maybe not hook up with an evil chick.  Granted she may no longer be evil.  She did take out her retractable laser nail.  The irony with this episode being entitled “Allegiance” was there were a lot of floating allegiances this week to point where I am not entirely sure where everyone stands with each other by the end of the episode.   

 

Big Sky:  Prediction time:  Travis teams up with Ren to take down her father and part of their agreement is she moves out of Montana.  This would be a shame because the Indian drug lords have been the only interesting part of this show.

 

The Blacklist:  So Marvin was behind this the whole time.  I guess that is better than someone we did not already know.  But when did Red figure this out?  He did not kill the lady so he must have had the inkling at some point between when he got the name from the bank and when he kidnapped her from FBI custody.

Around the Tubes: May 14, 2022

              

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Jack Johnson, James Bay, Florence + the Machine, Rolling Stones, Owl City, Ella Fitzgerald, Cold War Kids, and Joy Oladokun.

- Hey Aqua Teen Fam! Everyone’s favorite fast-food trio from Adult Swim creators Dave Willis (“Squidbillies,” “Space Ghost Coast to Coast”) and Matt Maiellaro (“Space Ghost Coast to Coast,” “12 oz. Mouse”) are coming together for the first time on DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment with a complete collection including all 140 episodes from the hit series 11 season run, as well as the first theatrical film titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters, plus hours of bonus content. With over 30 hours of content to binge on, Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Baffler Meal Complete Collection is priced to own at $112.99 SRP for the DVD ($129.99 in Canada). Aqua Teen Hunger Force is also available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers.  Three unique detectives, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, share a rental house in New Jersey. This mystery-solving trio is comprised of human-sized food products: Master Shake, the big-mouthed, self-appointed team leader with a short attention span and no work ethic; Frylock, the only reasonable member of the group, who happens to be a box of French-fried potatoes--spuds with power; and Meatwad, a talented round mound of meat who can take the shape of a hot dog or an igloo. Together, this triple threat tackles unusual cases from the luxury of a neighbor's swimming pool--unless they're confronted by danger. Then, of course, the three run like hell.

- Multi-platinum recording artist Jack Johnson released a second song and title track to his upcoming June 24^th release, Meet The Moonlight, alongside a beautiful new video directed by acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Maassen.  Stream “Meet The Moonlight” here  and view the video here.  The album’s centerpiece, “Meet The Moonlight” presents a quietly hypnotic number that producer Blake Mills refers to as “one of the most spiritually interesting things I’ve ever worked on.” With its sweetly languid rhythms, mantra-like vocal delivery, and otherworldly guitar work, “Meet The Moonlight” serves as a lovely respite from the outside world as Johnson shares another gentle reminder for living well. The track’s spacious arrangement leaves a lot of room for the mystical. Adding to the track’s inspiration, “Whenever I walk outside at night and look up at the stars, it’s always a way to be present instead of worrying about the future or dwelling on the past,” said Johnson. Mills adds, “There’s a chord in the song that wasn’t part of the initial composition; it happened by mistake when we were first playing it. In the end we kept it, because what that chord suggested was all the mystery. To me it represents the whole process of us finding a common ground and working together to keep all those little idiosyncrasies tucked into the mix.”

- Three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multi-platinum singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist James Bay will release his highly anticipated third full-length album, Leap, on July 8th via Mercury/Republic Records. Pre-order and pre-save Leap—HERE.  For Leap, Bay worked with some of the most sought after producers and songwriters in a mixture of in person and remote sessions in Nashville & London including Foy Vance [Ed Sheeran], Dave Cobb [Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton], Ian Fitchuk [Kacey Musgraves, Brett Eldredge], Joel Little [Lorde, Taylor Swift] & Finneas [Billie Eilish, The Knocks]. Check out the full tracklist below! 

- Dance Fever, the highly anticipated new album from Florence + the Machine, is out today. Listen here. The album, her first since 2018, features previously released tracks“My Love”, "Free", “King” and “Heaven is Here,” all of which arrived alongside videos from acclaimed director Autumn De Wilde. Florence appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” this week – watch her perform “My Love” and “King” and chat with Fallon here.

- A legendary event in the incredible 60-year history of the Rolling Stones is released in full for the first time today, Friday, May 13^th, via UMe. Live At The El Mocambo marks the first official appearance of the group's two famous secret concerts at the 300-capacity Toronto club in March 1977.  The album is available on double CD, 4 LP Black Vinyl, 4 LP Neon Vinyl and digitally. It features the Stones' full set from the March 5 show, plus three bonus tracks from the March 4 gig, newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Only four of the performances found their way onto the Love You Live album that followed in September 1977, which was dominated by tracks captured on the band's 1975 and '76 tours, with the full set having never been heard before.  As the Rolling Stones gear up for their 60^th anniversary celebrations, Live At The El Mocambo is available now, listen here.

- UMe/Interscope Records releases “All Star (Owl City Remix),” Owl City’s bold reimagining of Smash Mouth’s iconic 1999 hit single, on all digital formats. This fresh take on a perennial classic adds a new layer of sunny electronic pep to a song recognized worldwide for its inherently joyful get-up-and-go disposition. Click HERE to listen now.  Paul Delisle of Smash Mouth states, “It’s a wonderfully creative and unique reimagining of one of our best songs. We Have Always Admired Adam, and it’s an honor to have him remix the mighty ‘All Star’ in his distinctive Owl City sound.”

-  On August 16, 1958, just a few months after Ella Fitzgerald recorded her now-classic album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Songbook, The First Lady Of Song performed selections from that album live at the Hollywood Bowl to an adoring, sold-out crowd. Conducted and arranged by Paul Weston, who also arranged and conducted the studio sessions, this concert marked the only time that Ella performed these iconic arrangements live with a full orchestra.  Widely considered her greatest achievement, Ella’s Songbook records, with peerless renditions of the best songs by America’s greatest composers, are the cornerstone of the Verve catalog and the undisputed standard for jazz vocal recordings. At the inaugural Grammy Awards, her Irving Berlin album won Ella her first Grammy for “Best Vocal Performance, Female,” and was also nominated for “Album Of The Year.” Aside from the lucky audience at the Hollywood Bowl that night, it wasn’t generally known, until the discovery of these tapes, that Ella had ever performed any of the Songbook arrangements in concert, let alone that such a pristine and sonically sumptuous recording existed.  Pre-order the album here: https://EllaFitzgerald.lnk.to/HollywoodBowlPR

- Arkells share their brand new single “Past Life” featuring Cold War Kids, out today on Virgin Music Label. The release is accompanied by their brand new music video, featuring a hilarious guest starring appearance from SNL alum and MacGruber star, Will Forte. Check out the must-see video here.  DOWNLOAD/STREAM “PAST LIFE” HERE.  OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR “PAST LIFE” OUT NOW

- Breakthrough artist Joy Oladokun’s new single, “Purple Haze,” is out today on Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records (stream/purchase HERE). The song, about love and the end of the world, made its debut last week on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (watch HERE).  Of the song, Oladokun shares, “I wrote ‘Purple Haze’ while I was in LA after some wildfires, and I noticed the sky was not the color that it should be. It made me think about the world we live in and all the information we get on a daily basis. It almost feels like we might be on our way out as a species but there are wonderful things like family, friends, partners, dogs - things that inspire us towards beauty and excitement. Even if this all ends, it was worth the experience.”

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 8, 2022

  

Fear the Walking Dead:  Oh Luciana, why are you lying to Daniel about his daughter just moments after the guy literally murdered a dude who lied about his daughter.  But to be honest, I have no clue what happen to his daughter and part of me thinks she could very well end up in the tower.

 

The First Lady:  I found it interesting that there were multiple wheelchairs in the episode, Betty’s student and Michelle’s dad, but none in the timeline with possibly the most famous wheelchair user.  But I found it odd that this was the marriage origin episode but Franklin did not show up until the scene before the wedding.  Instead Eleanor spends most of the episode at boarding school.  And he was the only actor who played a husband that I actually recognized (reuniting him with his Looking for Alaska co-star who played young Betty).  I wonder if we will get more episodes with the younger versions in future episodes, there are still decades until they move into the White House, but on the other hand, you have Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson, are you really going to sideline them for multiple episode.  But then again, maybe the reason they signed on for a ten episode season was they would get a few episodes off.

 

I did break my one rule of watching based on real events shows/movies, going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole while watching.  I was stuck that Eleanor’s maiden name was also Roosevelt I just had to look right away to see if she married her cousin.  Later in the episode FDR made it a point to mention they were just fifth cousins.  I kind of forgot Teddy, who was actually Eleanor’s uncle, and Franklin were distantly related.

 

The Man Who Fell to Earth:  Honestly, I am kind of more interested with what happened to Newton when he arrived on this planet.  So the scientists took his eyes, when crazy and killed all but one of them.  When is that flashback episode?

 

The Endgame:  Well, at least we learned why the evil lady hated Elana, but I feel like that reveal should have come earlier.  The president seemed like a more formidable big bad.  To learn he was just a puppet just fell flat.

 

The Girl from Plainville:  Elle Fanning was great in the show, but ultimately, this story was not really worthy of an eight episode series when all you have are basically a bunch of text to base the show on.  If you are going to stretch this story to eight episodes, you really needed to have more musical number / dream sequences. 

 

Moon Knight:  If Layla’s sprit animal is a Hippo, why did she get budget Wonder Women wings?  I guess being really hungry would be a lame superpower I guess.  But again, the blackouts were fun in the first episode was funny, but how do you yadda yadda the final battle?  Did they just do that to save the reveal everyone knew coming for the post credit scenes? 

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  Oh Julie, not only are you a bigger mess than when you were first time in New Orleans, you got caught admitting you are playing things up for the cameras.  Number one rule of reality television, do not get caught manufacturing drama for camera time.  

 

Survivor:  So we do not get a reaction from Drea about RocksRoy’s all dude’s alliance.  Oh well.But this seems the episode where you really have to put Omar as the frontrunner to win.  Will anyone realize he is playing all sides before it is too late?

 

The Flight Attendant: Guess my prediction that the two kidnappers were the ones who were found in the lake.  So I guess those two are going to be someone we are not familiar with.  But there are certainly trying to make it seem like Cassie’s handler is a bad guy but I am just not buying it.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  Yet another episode over an hour.  They really could have cut the homelife storyline, which adds nothing to the show.

 

Halo:  It was a bit strange to have a whole episode without Master Chief, especially after the bif reveal of The Halo last week.  Well no real Master Chief, just a fever dream of him.  I did like there was a video game homage with Kwan keep on respawning after he kills her.  But I missed where Swhere Soren left the planet, and then just showed back up this week.  But I got a good laugh where he got shot, the bunker that was supposed to protect him from the blast has slits that let the flames in, but still managed to walk out of the bunker all right.

 

Big Sky:  Didn’t Jenny just join the force?  A bit weird she became the defacto leader after the chief got shot.  Is there no one with more seniority?

 

The Blacklist:  I am glad they revealed that Aram was still under the influence shortly after Park died, because I pegged it a dream when he was happily riding his bike  It was weird they kept going from Aram’s dream to real life all episode.  I wonder if Samar will be haunting Aram for a couple more episodes because she was there at the end and it would be strange to bring her back just for basically one scene.

Around the Tubes: May 7, 2022

                 

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on The Valet, Emergency, Maggie, The Chi, John Coltrane, Def Leppard, Kira Kosarin, and Animal Sun.

- "The Valet" premieres on Hulu and across Disney streaming services globally on May 20th, 2022.  In “The Valet,” world famous movie star, Olivia (Samara Weaving) faces a PR disaster when a paparazzi snaps a photo of her with her married lover, Vincent (Max Greenfield). The hard-working valet Antonio (Eugenio Derbez) accidentally appears in the same photo and is enlisted to pose as Olivia’s new boyfriend as a cover up. This ruse with Olivia thrusts Antonio into the spotlight and unexpected chaos. In this fish out of water romantic comedy, two worlds and cultures collide as both Olivia and Antonio start to see themselves more clearly than ever before. “The Valet,” directed by Richard Wong and written by Rob Greenberg and Bob Fisher, is the English-language remake of the hit French film.

- Amazon Studios will release EMERGENCY in select theaters May 20th and on Prime Video May 27th.  Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) and his best friend, Sean (RJ Cyler), are both seniors in college about to embark on an epic night of Spring Break parties. Sean has the whole night planned out, including every party they will hit on their “legendary tour.” Kunle is down, yet mostly concerned with finishing up his mold experiment in his lab, as his acceptance to Princeton is hinging on the results. They return to their apartment to pre-game, yet find that their roommate, Carlos (Sebastian Chacon), left the door open. As they enter with trepidation, Sean and Kunle discover a drunk, semi-conscious White female they don’t know on the floor and an oblivious Carlos, who didn’t hear her come in over the videogame blaring in his ears. Kunle wants to call the cops but Sean vehemently opposes the idea concerned how it will look when the cops show up (two Black men, one Latino man and a passed out White woman).

- Hulu Original Series "Maggie" premieres all episodes on Wednesday, July 6th.  Dating is hard enough - it’s even harder when you also happen to be a psychic. Maggie’s gift allows her to see into the future of her friends, parents, clients, and random people on the street. But when she begins to see glimpses of her own destiny after meeting an unexpected stranger, her romantic life suddenly gets a lot more complicated. Can you let yourself fall in love when you think you know how it ends? She probably should have seen this coming… 

-  SHOWTIME has released the official trailer for the highly anticipated fifth season of its hit drama series THE CHI, which will return with its first new episode on Friday, June 24, available on streaming and on demand for all SHOWTIME subscribers, before making its on-air debut on Sunday, June 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. THE CHI, from 20^th Television (HOMELAND), is currently in production on 10 episodes in Chicago. 

-  Since launching in 2020, Verve/UMe’s all-analog vinyl reissue series, Acoustic Sounds, has provided definitive, best-in-class audiophile grade pressings of some of the most important and beloved jazz records of all time, each mastered from the original tapes and produced with the utmost care. The nearly two dozen releases to date feature many of the timeless, classic albums from the Verve Label Group’s stable of labels including Decca, EmArcy, Impulse! Records, Philips Records and Verve, and thus far have included Bill Evans’ Trio ‘64, Clifford Brown and Max Roach’s A Study In Brown, Gil Evans Orchestra’s Out of the Cool, John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and Ballads, Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson’s Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson, Nina Simone’s I Put a Spell on You and Pastel Blues, Oliver Nelson’s Blues And The Abstract Truth, Peggy Lee’s Black Coffee and Sarah Vaughan’s Sarah Vaughan, and Stan Getz and João Gilberto’s Getz/Gilberto.  In 2021, the Acoustic Sounds series yearlong spotlight was on Impulse! Records as they celebrated their 60^th anniversary. In 2022, the series continues to have a strong focus on Impulse! but will also feature several important albums released by Verve between 1956-65. The third year of the highly popular series kicked off in January with two albums by John Coltrane, the legendary Live At The Village Vanguard (1962) and the epic, meditative Crescent (1964). It was followed by Coltrane’s sublime collaboration with Duke Ellington on their joint LP, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1963), and the latest release in the series, Coltrane’s landmark album with vocalist Johnny Hartman, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, released on April 29.  All four titles are available to order here:

John Coltrane – Crescent: https://UMe.lnk.to/ColtraneCrescent

John Coltrane – Live at the Village Vanguard: https://UMe.lnk.to/JCLATVV

John Coltrane & Duke Ellington – Duke Ellington & John Coltrane: https://UMe.lnk.to/JCDukeEllington

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman – John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman: https://Verve.lnk.to/ColtraneAndHartman

- SiriusXM announced today that legendary rock band, Def Leppard, will play a special invitation-only concert in Los Angeles at the Whiskey a Go Go for SiriusXM listeners. The intimate performance, part of SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series, will take place on Thursday May 26, in celebration of Def Leppard’s forthcoming album Diamond Star Halos which is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 27. On June 16, Def Leppard is set to kick off “The Stadium Tour” which will hit 36 major cities across North America. Def Leppard will be joined by Motely Crüe, Poison, and Joan Jett for this massive and highly anticipated stadium run. Prior to Def Leppard’s tour, this will be the first-time fans can see the band perform new songs live from their latest album live in addition to the stadium anthem hits that cemented them as rock icons. The performance will premiere on SiriusXM’s Def Leppard Radio and Howard 101 on Friday, May 27 at 5:00 pm ET and PT. Additionally, the concert will broadcast throughout June on Classic Rewind (ch. 25) and 80’s on 8.  For information on how to attend SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series, featuring Def Leppard please visit:www.siriusxm.com/DefLeppardLA. 

- After making a name for herself as a successful actress and independent artist, Kira Kosarin is bringing her music to the forefront in 2022. Today, the 24-year-old singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist releases a new song “parachute (plan b),” which marks the second release from her forthcoming EP.  Listen to “parachute (plan b)”—HERE.  On the track, delicate acoustic guitar wraps around her soft vocals. Above sparse airy production, she delivers a tender promise, “You’re all I need. I don’t want a plan b.” It illuminates the eloquence of her songwriting and dynamics of her powerhouse voice.

- Indie pop quartet Animal Sun have released the music video for their catchy and hard-hitting collaboration with Dreamers “I’m Already Dead.” Produced and co-written by Kenny Carkeet (ex-AWOLNATION) and co-produced by Aaron “Zeus” Zepeda, the track is the second release off of Animal Sun’s upcoming sophomore album Generation Waiting, due this Summer. Animal Sun is also currently on a nationwide tour with Kelsy Karter through May 11.  “I’m Already Dead” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1E6Z3DU4ko

57 Channels and Only This Is On: May 1, 2022

 

Fear the Walking Dead:  I was not expecting this show to do a teen rom-com episode.  That was weird.  Though one of the teens died and the other one is dying.  At first I thought June and Charlie were playing up the sickness to get the dude to turn off the beckon, but it turns out she really is sick.  Which would make her the second main character seemingly with a terminal diagnosis.  Though, maybe I should use main in quotations because I spent most of the episode trying to remember when the last time we saw Charlie was.  I think she may have been with the group who were holed up in the fort after the bomb went off, but I do not remember her ever being around Morgan since the explosion.

 

The First Lady:  I forgot how racist the media was against Michelle Obama.  She was so beloved during her time as First Lady; it was shocking to remember how some tried to portray her as the “angry black woman.  Oof.

 

The Endgame:  Elena has panned everything out so meticulously, but she did not have a plan in place for the president to just say fork it and bury her alive?  You would think she would have Snow White monitoring the place in case she was ever removed from Fort Tottem.  How do you not see that coming?

 

The Girl from Plainville:  Involuntary intoxication… I may have to remember that one.  Though I guess it is not a great defense if there is a warning at the start of the episode basically saying very few professionals believe it is a thing.  And though I could see it coming from a mile away, the title of the episode was Teenage Dirtbag, but seeing a bunch of grade schoolers sing the song to Michelle was creepy but still fairly entertaining.

 

Moon Knight:  While it is not uncommon for people to create a new persona when dealing with trauma, I was under the impression the primary creates the new persona to deal with the grief, not to be the one who only remembers their mother and a nice and caring person.  That was a little weird.  But R.I.P. Steven?  Though if Mark created him once, I guess he could do it again when he makes it to the land of the living again.

 

The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans:  Oh no, it looks like Julie was trying to make up for the months she did not drink during her first visit to New Orleans in one night.  But why doesn’t Tokyo just leave?  Danny also wanted to stay, let her be his problem and let them get an Uber later.

 

Survivor:  Oh joy, another special episode.  But what makes Drea look bad was that she voted out Chantelle and was talking about stealing Maryanne’s Idol.  Seems like she was perfectly fine with getting rid of half of the black people left, she just got mad when he closest black ally got voted out.  I do wonder if anyone will explain to her the reason why Rocksroy was booted was because he was trying to start an all dudes alliance. Then Maryanne was perfectly fine going to Tribal and voting out another black person when the last Tribal she went to another one was voted out then had to be told by Drea why she should be offended.

 

But I was sure Tori would be the first successful person to play the Shot in the Dark.  I have been talking all season we knew Tori would not go home because the opening montage showed her find something so I was extremely shocked that she went home before she found anything.  I re-watched that opening montage and Jeff talked about the dumb phrase advantage while there was a close up of Tori making a shocked face but it seems like I just somehow morphed that into that she found something.

 

The Flight Attendant: So are the two bodies found in the lake the two people who were in Cassie’s house?  And did fake Cassie alert someone to the bodies being there so they would be found?  But doesn’t Cassie have a pretty good alibi of being in Iceland at the time?  Sure, she was not on the manifest, but her FBI buddy and the person who seat she took can vouch for her.

 

Under the Banner of Heaven:  I know this is based on re al events, but the show does not need a murder mystery, the Mormon family drama in the eighties is interesting enough.  I could do without the cop stuff.  With both episodes going over an hour, I definitely could have also down without the Joseph Smith flashbacks too.  Then the second had way too much dog murder.

 

Made for Love:  Did they really think they could do weeks of treatments without someone noticing?  I understand dude is a bit of a recluse, but wouldn’t he need to go to the grocery store eventually or pick up his meds?  He is just never going to go for a walk?  At least he figured it out by the end of the episode.

 

Halo:  After the big battle last week, this week was a bit of a letdown.  I did like when Master Chef locked the doctor up to see if she put a failsafe in Cortana, but the rest fell flat, especially the reveal of the titular place which really means nothing to someone like me who never played the game.

 

The Blacklist:  So Red basically started the episode working through if Mr. Kaplan was really and how silly it sounds that she could be the one be to kill Lizzie, basically saying pretty much what I said last week.  But I am now thinking that the sister is behind it all.  They did make a point to say how much she looks like her sister.  But how convenient that neither Red nor Harold bothered to join the raid.  I knew that place was going to blow up the moment neither got out of the car.