Around the Tubes: 9/14/2018

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 Into The Dark, Discover and OWN on Hulu, John Mellencamp, Sir Rod Stewart, A Murder in Mansfield, The Circus, Los Comandos, and Towards the North.

- In partnership with Blumhouse Television, Into The Dark is a horror event series from prolific, award-winning producer, Jason Blum’s independent TV studio. The series includes 12 super-sized episodes, with a new installment released each month inspired by a holiday and will feature Blumhouse’s signature genre/thriller spin on the story.


- Discovery Inc. and Hulu today announced an expansive distribution agreement that will extend Discovery’s portfolio of high quality real life entertainment brands to Hulu’s on-demand and live TV subscription streaming services. The new partnership makes Hulu the #1 streaming home for popular unscripted series and reinforces Hulu’s commitment to offering programming the whole family can enjoy. Today’s multi-year agreement increases Hulu’s offering of top Discovery programming to nearly 4,000 episodes of popular shows including Deadliest Catch, MythBusters, Say Yes to the Dress, Naked and Afraid, Property Brothers, Gold Rush, Street Outlaws, Chopped, Chopped Jr., Fixer Upper, House Hunters and House Hunters International, available outside of Discovery’s networks exclusively to Hulu across all of its subscription plans.

- Concurrent with the Discovery partnership, Hulu reached a licensing agreement with OWN – which is part of the Discovery Networks family – to bring four of the network’s top-rated scripted series exclusively to Hulu. All past episodes of Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots, If Loving You is Wrong, The Paynes and Love Thy Neighbor are now available to stream for the first time, only on Hulu. They join the complete library of acclaimed OWN series Queen Sugar from Ava DuVernay and Warner Horizon.

- Set to coincide with a highly anticipated new album release, John Mellencamp will embark on a 2019 tour of “The John Mellencamp Show” which will feature the rock icon’s classics plus some new material. Hailed by critics and fans alike as one of music’s most authentic and crowd pleasing concert performers, Mellencamp will begin the tour February 7th in his home state of Indiana at South Bend’s Morris Performing Arts Center and will span two months ending in Clearwater, Florida at the famed Ruth Eckerd Hall. Produced by AEG Presents, “The John Mellencamp Show” will start promptly at 8pm and will not have an opening act. Every ticket purchased online will receive a physical copy of Mellencamp’s forthcoming album “Other People’s Stuff” set for release on November 16th by Republic Records. Tickets for the tour will be available to the general public beginning Friday, September 21st at 10:00am local time. Pre-sale and VIP tickets will be available beginning Wednesday, September 19th at 10:00am local time. For more information and all ticketing information please visit Mellencamp.com.

- Music legend Sir Rod Stewart scored his 23rd Top 10 hit on the AC chart this week with his latest single “Didn’t I.” The song soared into the Top 10 just five weeks into its release, quickly becoming a radio favorite and standout live performance on Stewart’s sold-out summer tour. The song is from his upcoming 30th studio album Blood Red Roses, which is due out September 28th via Republic Records.

- 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 announced that prominent political strategist and commentator Steve Schmidt will join the network’s heralded weekly political docuseries The Circus as a recurring on-air contributor when the show returns on Sunday, September 16 at 8:00. Schmidt has made previous appearances on The Circus, offering trenchant insight based on his more than two decades working at the highest levels of national Republican politics. In the show’s fall run, Schmidt will join hosts John Heilemann, Alex Wagner and Mark McKinnon as they crisscross the country covering the most high-stakes midterm elections in modern history — with titanic implications for the presidency of Donald Trump.

- On World Refugee Day, public television’s WORLD Channel announced the lineup of films for season 3 of Doc World, a series that showcases stories that dive deep into the heart of international issues, giving viewers a chance to understand the lives and concerns of people beyond U.S. borders. The series continues this weekend, with two new films debuting this Sunday, September 16,: Los Comandos and Towards the North, following refugees in Latin America fleeing their homes in search of asylum.

Previewing The First

Mars was huge when I was growing up, in the nineties there were even two Mars movies that were released within months of each other while the United States sent the Mars Rover there around this time. We reached the moon long before, so we have envisioned going to Mars ever since. But after the turn of the century our fascination of Mars seemed to wain so far that John Carter removed mention of Mars from its title to avoid alienating viewers. It failed, the movie ended up being possibly the biggest bust in the history of cinema.

But more recently, The Martian was a huge critical and box office success so maybe things are turning around for the red planet. So maybe it is time for a Mars television show. The First depicts Sean Penn and his crew as they try and become the first men and women to set foot on Mars. Okay, by that description and trailer, you would think this is a sci-fi show but a couple episodes that the actual science is not all that important to the writers and this is really just a character study, it is just the characters just so happen to be training to go to Mars. Really, I have not seen a show try this hard to be prestige television since maybe Ray Donovan.

Sure this is 2033 and we get a few technological advances. You can now open your truck door by saying “Open” (voice activation is general is very prevalent), hand signatures have replaced door keys, and apparently Google Glass is entrenched in society. But really the show is more about the characters than what they do. It is not until the final episode when the show goes heavy into the science fiction.

The show starts with Penn as the former mission commander on the eve of a launch of a mission he was removed from because it was for the best. After a complication, NASA then has twenty-three months (at a cost of seventy-billion dollars) until the next window. But again, between the first and last episodes, the mission to Mars is essentially a backdrop.

Instead we get a super serious show where the only “fun” scenes include one involving karaoke and another involving a basketball game. Everyone in the cast seems to be haunted by something. None is more haunted than Penn’s daughter, newcomer Anna Jacoby-Heron who is haunted by the death of her mother while struggling with drug addiction. Since the show is angling to be prestige television, you would think I would complained of a child shoehorned into the story, but this may be the first prestige television child that will not get you reaching for the fast forward button. In fact Jacoby-Heron may actually be the best part of the show. And where more episode seemed to be mostly focused on a certain character, her singular focused episode is a highlight of television so far this year even as the rest of the show can lag at points.

It seemed like Hulu has struggled for a while to decide just how to deliver its episodes. It looked like it had settled on released a couple episodes on launch before going to the traditional weekly format. But it looks like they are shifting to a Netflix model of everything at once with all their fall shows are doing that with the exception of weekly talk show I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman and Into the Dark which actually going the other way with just a new episode every month. Sure I am biased since I grew up that way, but they should reconsider and go back to weekly episode so people can go back to talking about television.

Just look at Castle Rock, sure it was a slow start but by the time episode seven and then nine rolled around, they spawn hundreds of think pieces that I am sure inspire plenty of people to catch up. Episode five of The First could have been that moment for this show. But when you have released everything at once, there is no time to write that think piece because everyone has moved on to the next show. I can see releasing everything for teen leaning shows like Runaways, but if The First is geared towards, maybe Hulu should consider releasing the show the way most adults watch in the future.

All episodes of The First are available tomorrow on Hulu.

I Want My Music Television: 9/12/2018

High Horse - Kacey Musgraves


During the height of disco even established rock acts from KISS to The Rolling Stones tried to jump on the bandwagon mostly to embarrassing result. Yet thirty years later, somehow Kacey Musgraves came up with a pretty awesome country-disco track.


God is a woman - Ariana Grande


Who would have guessed Ariana Grande is into abstract art? But what the fork was up with the screaming gophers? And the Pulp Fiction/1984 mash-up?


Feels Like Summer - Childish Gambino


Releasing a video for “Feels Like Summer” days before Labor Day seems weird, but Childish Gambino perfectly sums up that end of summer malaise. And crying Kanye may be the most summer 2018 thing there can be.


Shame - Elle King



And now it is time to check in a one hit wonder to see if they have a second hit in them. Elle King had one of the few pop-rock hits in recent history, but this song does not sound like it will catch on at radio too.

The Most (and Least) Anticipated Questions of 2018-19 Television

Here we are a week after Labor Day and already fall television is starting to ramp up before the network start their new seasons. Four shows I am watch just lauched last night.
o here are some questions I am looking to be answered by the time we hit next summer.

1. What the Fork Is Going On in The Good Place? – The Good Place blew our forking mind when the ended the first season with Eleanor figuring out that they were, in fact, in The Bad Place. The show did their big twist a bit early in season two when The Judge sent Team Cockroach back to Earth to live out their lives to see if they would end up being worthy of The Good Place at the start of the list episode so we did get a sneak peak of what season three may be like. It may be a bit precocious to think this will be the whole season considering Michael’s second try only lasted two episodes of season two. All I know about the third season is that Jason better enjoy the Jacksonville Jaguars’ run through the playoffs last year.

2. Will DC Universe Succeed? – We have finally reached streaming saturation where we have to ask of every new service, can it survive? Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu seem to have their foothold with the big pockets of Disney, Youtube, Facebook Watch, and Apple TV lurking (granted deep pockets does not necessarily mean success, remember Ping?). Which begs the question is there a place for niche services? Seriously, who is paying six buck a month to get AMC or FX ad free? Do you at least get their movies uncensored? The latest to put their hat in the ring is DC which is offering a vague number of their comic book movies, shows, and actual comic books along with one exclusive series airing at a time released with weekly episode for eight bucks a month (or seventy-five for a yearly subscription). Does not seem enough to me for a permanent subscription, but I will likely sign up once a year or so for a month just so I can see Lyla Garrity in a superhero costume. Now if only they would greenlight a Saturn Girl spin-off.

3. How Will Homeland End? – How apropos that a show with a bi-polar lead would be the most uneven show in the history of television. As great as the first season was, the third season was equally bad. Since killing off Brody, the show has evened out (though the long slow death of Quinn was excruciating). Two seasons ago, the show backed itself into a Russian hacking storyline before it turned out to really be happening. The show recently announced next will be its last. We left off with Carrie completely off her meds for a lengthy amount of time. Kind of a shame the drama of freeing Carrie wasn’t itself the final season.

4. Will Manifest Be the Next Lost? – Lost launched thirteen years ago and during it six year run, every network tried to replicate its deep seeded mythology with sprawling cast to no avail. Very few got a second season and none I believe got a third. Since they all failed, it has been awhile since a network has tried something so ambitious. Can Manifest, about a plane (how Lostian) lands fire years with the passengers thinking it was a normal flight, capture the magic that Lost did or will it just go the way of The Event?

5. Will the Veronica Mars Reboot Be Any Good? – Veronica Mars has long been the holy grail of gone too soon television shows. We did get a movie thanks to Kickstarter but it was too fan servicey to be great itself. Four years later it looks like we may get a full television revival on Hulu (no official announcement yet but creator Rob Thomas has tweeted out multiple acticles on the subject without actually commenting on it himself). So will the reboot be any good? The movie was good enough and with Thomas and Kristen Bell back, I am definitely optimistic. And free of network constraints, just how dark and gritty will the show get? Can we expect a full frontal Dick Casablancas?


As the great philosopher Butt-Head once pondered, how would we know if something was cool if there weren't things that sucked; here are the five least antedated questions:

1. Who Will Get Roseanne’d Next? - A wise man once said, “Twitter is stupid and Instagram is Twitter for people who can't read.” Twitter has long been a cesspool for the angriest people to shout at each other and earlier this year Roseanne got axed from her highly rated show for being racist. Then about a month later Guardians of the Galaxy writer / director James Gunn was fired, also by Disney for making poor pedophile jokes on Twitter (or so some claimed were jokes; pictures at him at a pedophile themed party did not help his cause). Which begs the question, who will get fired because of Twitter next? Can I put money on Alec Baldwin, who has an upcoming ABC show and surprisingly has never been blacklisted for his very inappropriate tirades including calling his eleven year old daughter a “rude thoughtless pig.” I know it will not be Rian Johnson, another Disney employee and director of an upcoming Star Wars film, who recently deleted all of his tweets older than a year which is probably the wisest thing anyone can do besides never even going on Twitter.

2. What Will Be the Next Crappy Reboot? – Sure there are some reboots to be extremely excited about that may be coming soon like the previously mentioned Veronica Mars as well Alf, and a Deadwood movie. But for every worthy reboot, there seems to be ten crappy ones. Joining Will and Grace and Roseanne The Connors this fall include Murphy Brown, Magnum P.I. Last Man Standing, and Charmed. We will also be getting soon The Hills, Roswell. And also in the works are Bewitched, Designing Women, The Facts of Life, The Muppet Show, Party of Five, The Twilight Show, The Animaniacs, and a double dose of Melissa Joan Hart reboots in Clarrisa Explains it All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (though she will only appear on the former).

3. Where Did the Runaways Runaway To? – It took an entire season for the titular runaways to actually runaway, to the point I do not really care at this point. I am still kind of rooting for the parents.

4. Will FX Continue to Let Kurt Sutter Overindulge? - The first couple seasons of Sons of Anarchy were pretty good. Then the gang went to Ireland and things dragged on a bit. When they got back to California, it did not get much better because FX’s laisse faire attitude let creator Kurt Sutter make longer and long episode that got more and more excruciating to watch. I think there was even a two hour plus episode that included three musical montages in the final season, one sung by Sutter’s wife who was also a star of the show. Aw, nepotism. So his follow-up was a hard pass for me and apparently most of Sons’ viewers because it was canceled after one season. Sutter is back in the motorcycle game with the spin-off with Mayans MC. But if FX continues to give him carte blanche, I think I will pass. And my cable guide has the first episode at over an hour and thirty-eight minutes and episode two at an hour and a half, so definitely hard pass. Seriously FX, notes are good sometimes.
5. Can CW Succeed Going to Six Nights a Week?: The CW was launched twelve years ago and two years later it was outsourcing its Sunday schedule before abandoning the night a year later. A decade later the CW is reviving the night.

And here are the shows I will be watching this fall and when they begin.

Mondays
8:00 – The Neighborhood (CBS, October 1)
10:00 – Manifest (NBC, September 24)

Tuesdays
8:00 – The Gifted (FOX, September 25)
9:00 – Blackish (ABC, October 16)
10:00 – The Purge (USA, September 4)

Wednesdays
8:00 – Survivor (CBS, September, 26)
8:00 – The Goldbergs (ABC, September 26)
9:00 – Modern Family (ABC, September 26)
9:00 – Vikings (History, November 28)

Thursdays
8:00 – The Good Place (NBC, September 27)
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (CBS, September 27)
8:30 – Superstore (NBC, October 4)

Fridays
The First (Hulu, all episodes September 14)
Into the Dark (Hulu, new episodes on first Friday of the month starting in October)
Marvel’s Runaways (Hulu, all episodes December 21)
8:00 – Blindspot (October 12)
9:00 – Midnight, Texas (October 26)

Sundays
8:00 – Supergirl (The CW, October 14)
9:00 – Shameless (Showtime, September 9)
9:00 – The Last Ship (TNT, September 9)
9:00 - The Walking Dead (AMC, October 7)
9:00 - Ray Donovan (Showtime, October 28)
10:00 – Kidding (Showtime, September 9)
10:00 – You (Lifetime, September 9)
10:00 - Escape at Dannemora (Showtime, November 18)

Previewing Shameless: Season Nine

The new season starts with two rats fornicating until one runs off only to get run over to a car in front of the Gallagher house as the camera pans inside to see Frank passed out in his out puke. Welcome back Shameless. Little has changed since we last saw the Gallagher’s as the new season mostly picks up where we last saw the clan.

Ian is in jail after the stunt where he blew up a van and is still an advocate on the inside. Lip took his co-worker’s niece and is still looking after her. Debbie is still working the graveyard shift with only two toes left on one foot Frank is still banging and stealing from PTA members. While newlywed Carl is at military school.

Fiona is still off owning her building cohabitating with the Irish dude. So little has changed except Svetlana is gone (she is replaced by the Irish dude in the main cast so I may have to learn his name) leaving Vee and Kev looking after two very rambunctious children. Shameless may be better suited to soft reboots every season instead of recycling the same storylines keeping them from getting stale. Except we are getting a supersized season this year with two seven episode halves coming so maybe we will get some shuffling them. With an original cast member soon, they will probably have to.

Shameless airs Sundays at 9:00 on Showtime.

Around the Tubes: 9/7/2018

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 Shatterbox, Madison Ryann, Dark Money, 93Queen, and World Refugee Day.

- Turner's TNT, in partnership with Refinery29, today announced the World Premiere and digital release date of season two of the Shatterbox, the film series that gives female storytellers a platform to create short films that redefine identity, imagination and storytelling through the female lens. The latest collection debuts Saturday, September 8, across TNT’s digital ecosystem, including its TVE apps available for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Firestick, Xbox One, Smart TVs, its website (TNTDrama.com/Shatterbox), and social platforms including YouTube and Facebook. To celebrate the launch, the films will also have an exclusive screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and have a presence at Refinery29’s iconic experiential event, 29Rooms New York, which takes place September 6-9 and September 13-16.

- rising vocalist and songwriter Madison Ryann Ward shares the video for her debut single “Mirror”—watch and share HERE. Refinery29 praises the video saying, “The powerful visuals of the music video match Ward's soulful, smooth vocals.” “Mirror” was released earlier this spring after Ward was featured recording the track with producer Rick Rubin in his Malibu studio on Jay-Z’s episode of the hit Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman. When Letterman asks Ward about her objective in making music, she replies, “Just to be honest. And to move people in a way that they’ve never been moved before.”

- 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.

- When Rachel “Ruchie” Freier introduces us to Borough Park, Brooklyn, one of the world’s largest enclaves of Hasidic Jews, she acknowledges the community’s prevailing view of a woman’s role: “The focus of a woman is being a mother. Any profession, or extra schooling, is discouraged.” In Paula Eiselt’s debut feature documentary, 93Queen, America’s first all-female EMT corps is born against this unlikely backdrop. 93Queen, directed by Paula Eiselt and produced by Eiselt and Heidi Reinberg, makes its national broadcast premiere on the PBS documentary series POV and pov.org on Monday, September 17 at 10:00.

- On World Refugee Day, public television’s WORLD Channel announced the lineup of films for season 3 of Doc World, a series that showcases stories that dive deep into the heart of international issues, giving viewers a chance to understand the lives and concerns of people beyond U.S. borders. The first three films of the season, kicking off Sunday, September 9, entitled: Sky and Ground, Los Comandos, and Towards the North, all follow refugees fleeing their homes in search of asylum.

Previewing The Last Ship: The Final Season

It is the end of era as The Last Ship is about to ride off into the sunset after one last mission. It has been three years since the Red Rust threatened the world’s food supply and we are long past the Red Flu. In fact the next virus will be cyber. Or at least that is what a student that Captain Chandler is training, the first class of midshipmen since the global pandemic. In fact the last ship has turned into a great fleet and the Nathan James is just a floating museum.

But of course peace does not last long and the season starts off in winter in Columbia. One Colombian has united South America into one country that wants to be on top of the new world order and they are quickly moving north and do not plan to stop at Mexico. Oh and this leader’s most trusted advisor is someone with Tarot cards so he has some issues. And Sasha just happens to be leading a four member covert ops team down south when the first shots are fired.

For those that have made it this long will be rewarded with its most action packed season yet with even a Saving Private Ryan style invasion (or at least a version on a television budget). And with America in a full scale war, do not expect some of your favorite sailors make it to the end. But we do get one last fitting tribute before the last credits roll. The Last Ship will be going out in style.

The Last Ship airs Sundays at 9:00 on TNT.

Previewing You: A Dude's Review of Lifetime vol. IX

I have long lamented how too many television show have ideas that would be better off as a two hour movie than a format that wants to churn out a hundred episodes per season. Sure ninety-five percent of these shows get canned after one season (or less). But the thing is Lifetime’s You already is a movie. In fact about nineteen percent of Lifetime Movies are about stalkers. Though I wonder if anyone watched a Lifetime movie and thought to themselves, I wish that went on for six seasons or more.

You stars a pretentious bookstore worker, because what else could have possibly been? But Penn Badgley (John Tucker Must Die) is actually a good guy beneath his "paper is better than digital" snobbery, he even bring home books to the kid next door who has to sit on the steps when his mother gets in a shouting match with a new boyfriend. And c’mom, who does not do a little Googling when they meet a new hot chick?

Okay, so Googling until they get an address, go there, and proceed to put your hand down your pants jumps across the proverbial line. And unfortunately the title sequence starting to bleed blood red spoils that someone is going to bleed ruining the, well maybe he is not going to go there. Sure a stalking television show about a stalker pretty much means it will go there eventually, but having it in your title sequence means it is going to happen soon.

For the first half of the Pilot, besides the pretentious job, Badgley actually comes across as an enduring everyman who does a pretty good job explaining what men think about in the pursuit of the fairer sex until he starts to slowly go over the edge. By then, his long inner monologues get a bit tedious and I wish he would stick to pithy one-liners which he is much better at.

Elizabeth Lail (Dead of Summer) plays the object of his obsession and is perfectly stacker worthy in an approachable hot kind of way. (I cannot confirm nor deny going through her whole Instagram but will confirm never actually peeping though her window in the bushes.) She has a creepy boss, a douchebag ex she cannot quite quit yet, and daddy issues which makes for the perfect kind of girl you can swoop in and save.

Though her friend circle can be trouble just because they are kind of annoying. Seriously, one calls herself an Instagram Influencer. And you would think a bookstore worker would get along with best friend Peaches Salinger (yes that Salinger played by the fourth best Pretty Little Liar Shay Mitchell), but Peaches and Badgley wisely do not trust each other as things escalate with every passing episode and becomes the most compelling part of the show half way through the first season.

You reminds me of classic J.J. Abrams in that the episodes are set up well and end with shockers that will likely have you tuning in the next week (the end of episode is, um, epically memorable) but everything in between is kind of a bore. I think it probably has to do with too much monologing and maybe a more captivating actor could have help. There is a format change in episode four that shakes thinks up for a bit until you realize it is not much better than the original format. When it comes down to it, You is just not as infatuating as Lail is to Badgley.

You airs Sundays at 9:00 on Lifetime.

Previewing Kidding

When you have a television show that reteams Michel Gondry with Jim Carrey who gave us Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you know you are getting something weird. Sure Kidding is not as surreal as their movie, but it is still pretty weird. Carrey plays Mr. Pickle a children’s television host that will bring images of Mr. Rogers (who is have his own small revival thanks to a documentary). He is so beloved that when hoodlums steal his car and start to strip it only to find his friend Ukularry, they put the car back together and leave the car back where they stole it.

As pure as Mr. Pickle is, he is so naïve that he goes in to have his phone fixed when someone does not text him back, his executive producer / dad Frank Langella (Masters of the Universe), is as shred. See Mr. Pickle has turned into a hundred and twelve million dollar licensing industry. So when Carrey’s son dies in a car crash and Carrey slowly starts to lose it, Langella looks at way to keep the Mr. Pickle franchise rolling without his son.

Caught in the middle is sister / daughter Catherine Keener (Death to Smoochy) who is also the head puppeteer and possible heir to her father. Though no dead child, she has some major issues of her own at home include a daughter who has a tick more annoying than that of Brick Heck that she picked up after she her father with her piano teacher. The death of his son also put a strain on his marriage to Judy Greer (Marmaduke) who has moved on to another man while the kid that did survive the car crash have figure out what is life without the twin that was always there.

Kidding could be your typical corporate power struggle or sad sack drama, but add Jim Carrey into the equation as an overtly earnest kids host, and you get something inherently weird and totally unpredictable as the character slowly descents into madness. Be it shaving a strip down the middle of his head, goes, on a date with a grown up fan, spending time with a terminal cancer patciant, or how he deals with the driver who struck his son. Not knowing where it goes next will likely be the best part of Kidding, for better or worse.

Kidding airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.

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.