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 Hulu, Eddie Griffin: Undeniable, The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X, CONAN, and Late Night with Seth Myers.
- This week at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, Hulu announced: Hulu officially confirms a new order for Catch-22 Limited Series Event from George Clooney, Paramount Television and Anonymous Content. ER makes its streaming debut on Hulu today in a new deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. All 331 episodes are now streaming. The Handmaid’s Tale S2 will premiere on April 25th with two new episodes. Hulu picks up March of The Penguins 2: The Next Step to Hulu Documentary slate. Hulu adds a second installment of National Treasure – titled Kiri – to the Hulu Originals slate. All four parts will premiere on April 4th. Fourth and final season of Casual will premiere on July 31st.
- Celebrating his 30-year anniversary in comedy, veteran comedian Eddie Griffin takes to the stage in the hilarious new special Eddie Griffin: Undeniable, premiering on Showtime on Friday, February 9 at 10:00 on-air, on demand and over the internet. Filmed at the Berklee Performing Arts Center in Boston, Massachusetts, Griffin offers his prolific and entertaining point of view on the state of the world, tackling politics, racism, relationships, religion and humanity as a whole. Ultimately reflecting on his long-standing career, he pays tribute to close friends and late comedians Charlie Murphy, Bernie Mac, Dick Gregory and Richard Pryor (among others) with flawless impersonations. With his quick wit and animated delivery, Griffin does not mince words in this comedy event.
- A historic voice in the 1960s civil rights movement, Malcolm X was and continues to be a fascinating yet controversial figure. During his life, he gave voice to the anger and frustration that African Americans experienced during the tumultuous 1950s and 60s in the United States, gaining a reputation for his fiery rhetoric and spellbinding speeches. THE LOST TAPES: MALCOLM X relives the pivotal years of this trailblazing activist using rarely seen footage and audio tapes, including never-before-seen footage of Nation of Islam rallies and recordings made at the Audubon Ballroom on the day of his assassination. The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X premieres Monday, February 26 at 8:00 on Smithsonian Channel.
- TBS’ CONAN will travel internationally for the eighth time in three years for CONAN Without Borders: Haiti, a primetime special premiering Saturday, January 27 at 10:00 on TBS. After hearing President Trump’s disparaging remarks about Haiti, O’Brien immediately decided to announce his intentions to visit the island nation. On January 14, he tweeted “Still reeling from @realDonaldTrump’s very negative Yelp review of Haiti, which means I’ll love it. Headed to Haiti later this week to explore and make some new friends. Stay tuned for my report.”
- Jillian Jacqueline: “Reasons” on Late Night with Seth Myers:
It is the usual ho hum nothing too much to get excited about winter music preview. The most interesting artists are all listed in the TBA section which probably means we will not actually get any new music from them until summer. Then I read an article with Dr. Dre saying Detox is not entirely dead. To catch people up, after releasing 2001 in 1999, Dre started working on Detox, which he claimed to be his last album. And it kept being pushed back. Even Guns 'n Roses managed to release Chinese Democracy first. Then Dre popped up in a Dr. Pepper commercial in 2009 (ironically the same brand that said every person in America would get a free can if Chinese Democracy came out the previous year; granted I never got my free can because the website was down and have not Dr. Pepper since out of spite) making everyone think this was the start of the Detox campaign. Kush was then release the following to general meh. Same with I Need a Doctor the next year. And once again Detox was shelved. Word then broke that Dre was releasing music inspired by the biopic Straight Outta Compton in 2015, except that was all new music and not Detox. And it seemed Detox was dead. Until last week when Dre dropped by a Golden State Warrior practice and an ESPN reporter asked if Detox is permanently shelved to which the producer replied, "I’m working on a couple songs right now. We’ll see." We have been waiting for Detox fifteen years now, and there is a chance we will hear it someday. Sure it may not be until after he is dead and his next of kin needs more money, but someday. Never give up hope. But here are that we will definitely (probably) get to hear this year. Click on the album name to pre-order on Amazon and the artist's name to go to their iTunes page.
When the second season of The Path premiered, it was the marquee show on Hulu. And heavy is head that wears the crown. Hulu just seemed to be getting by as Netflix racked up all the awards, even Amazon Prime, which did not even seem to be trying much until it recently bought the rights to Lord of the Rings had Transparent. But since then, Hulu has premiered three great shows, Harlots, Future Man, and The Handmaid’s Tale, the latter of which swept last year’s Emmys including outstanding Drama Series, beating out three Netflix shows. So now that the crown has been passed, expectations has been lowered, we can now enjoy The Path as simply the fourth best show on Hulu (and maybe going lower with multiple promising new shows premiering in 2018).
When the second season finished with Eddie leading a group of rejected Meyerist into the compound after performing a legitimate miracle, I thought this season would be a fight between Eddie and Carl for control of the moment. I was wrong. After another miracle in the opening moments, we get a six month fast forward and Carl is out. Dude bounced to Florida with his wife and baby and is being bankrolled by a former professional athlete and hoping to start his own moment down south which to me kind of sounds like a Pyramid Scheme.
Back in the tristate area, Eddie is trying to be the nicer and kinder cult leader and as his son tells him, “You are trying so hard not to be a cult leader; you forgot to be a leader.” Pretty profound for a teenager. That is where Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) comes in as the Meyerist new Oxford educated publicist who worked for Greenpeace Breitbart oxford educated which means the only green she cares about is the shade of George Washington’s skin. Granted the most ruthless thing she does in the first two episodes is threaten ICE on an illegal alien. Then things get interesting in episode three which makes her motives even more murky.
Then there is Sarah who is still caught in the middle. She does not really care for the nicer Meyerist movement under Eddie and even though Cal still believes in some of the more hard core pillars of the faith, he is hundreds of miles away… at least for now. I have a feeling he will find his way back to New York before the end of season three.
New episodes of The Path are released on Hulu every Wednesday with the first three episodes up now.
I have said it before, but let me say it again: I miss the old Taylor Swift. Seriously, why is she making a nineties rap video? Now that I think of it, is Reputation Swift’s attempt at a hip-hop album? She needs to go back to making folk pop.
Taylor may not be doing the country pop thing anymore, but newcomer Jillian Jacqueline is filling that void very nicely with a stellar EP she released last year, the best to combine country and old school pop music since Swift's heyday at the start of this decade. Bonus points for the Wes Anderson inspired music video.
Oh my, eighties hair on the ladies of First Aid Kit. Though the Farrah Fawcett wave is kind of a cheat. If you are doing eighties hair, you have to go full bad perm. Although this begs the question, did they have bad Jersey mall hair in the eighties in Sweden?
Okay let’s move up one decade with the new Bruno Mars video. Unfortunately he brought Cardi B with him. Goodness those vertical color stripe shirts are horrible. I had about five. But it did get me to go down an In Living Color YouTube rabbit hole.
Shameless: Maybe not as Shameless as digging up your dead wife’s coffin, but oh my goodness, Frank punched a little girl. Oh Carl, you do not get down on one knew for a promise ring. Amateur.
Marvel’s Runaways: The Runaways finally ran away! Quite literally, in slow motion during the last frames of the season. Granted they are still in Los Angeles so they did not run very far. Are they just going to live on the streets next season? And was that who the black father calling, issuing an Amber Alert? Seems a bit harsh way to get your son back home. Sure the Pride has a detective in their back pocket.
You can stream episodes of Marvel's Runaways on Hulu.
The Challenge: Vendettas: It is amazing how everyone still lets Johnny run everything, the other two just going with putting in Bananas’ vendetta into elimination. Sure Cory did not help much by spreading not particurly good lies about Brad. Speaking of Banana’s, does his win of Champs vs. Pro count as breaking his curse of screwing Sarah out of money? Or does winning a micro season for charity not count?
You can download The Challenge: Vendettas on iTunes.
The Blacklist: C’mon, Red does not have anyone following Liz? That is two near death experiences since coming out of her coma.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.
Vikings: Kind of a cheap fake out with Ivar saying he was not going to fight and renounces his threat to kill Lagatha then when he comes back from the commercial break he throws water into his brother’s face and vows again to kill Lagatha. But I guess it was better to do that at a commercial break instead of at the end of an episode. And then we have yet another person who saves the Bishop. He did seem to glance at Lagatha before he died, I am not sure if that really happened or I am misinterpreting the editing. But I am surprised no one we knew died. I thought for sure when they started showing Bjorn’s wife and son fighting, two characters we have barely seen up do that point, at the very least one of them was not going to make it out of the battle alive.
You can download Vikings on iTunes.
Knightfall: After all the creepy uncle stuff, I finally googled and found out he was not the real uncle to the princess, just an advisor to the King. But who exactly is his “uncle” who I thought was Godfrey when he first revealed himself.
You can download Knightfall on iTunes.
Blindspot: Obviously Weller did not kill Jane’s kid; the bigger question is why Kurt said that. So apparently he shot her and left there to die. What? How about going back Kurt? Whatever happened to no man left behind?
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Everyone is back together! (Well except for May.) So it is time to split up again. But who was the old chick at the end? It has to be the little girl that draws the future right? The bird is probably the key but my memory is not that good to remember a little girl I think we have only seen twice.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.
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 Looming Tower, Snowpiercer, American Dad!, Final Space, The Last O.G., The Numbers on Grandpa’s Arm, John Hiatt, 2018 FIFA World Cup™, I’m Dying Up Here, Marvel’s Runaways, Future Man, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild, Drop the Mic, and Cover Story: Meghan Markle – The Prince and the Game Show Model.
- Check out the official trailer for Hulu's Original Limited Series The Looming Tower. The Looming Tower will premiere Wednesday, February 28 only on Hulu. Thank you!
- Turner's TNT has given a series greenlight to Snowpiercer, a futuristic thriller based on the acclaimed movie of the same name. The series stars Oscar® winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Tony Award® and Grammy® Award winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Black-ish), Mickey Sumner (American Made), Susan Park (Ghostbusters), Benjamin Haigh (The Conjuring 2), Sasha Frolova (The Interestings), Katie McGuinness (Dirty Filthy Love), Alison Wright (The Accountant), Annalise Basso (Bedtime Stories), Sam Otto (Jellyfish), Roberto Urbina (Narcos), Sheila Vand (Argo) and Tony Award® winner and Grammy® nominee Lena Hall (All My Children).
- TBS gets animated on Monday nights starting with American Dad! returning to TBS on February 12th at 10:00 with 22 new episodes. In addition, the network has ordered two more seasons of the top-rated animated hit American Dad!. The series premiered on the FOX broadcasting network in 2005 before moving to TBS in 2014. Since then, it has been a key performer for the network, ranked as one of 2017’s top 10 cable comedies. American Dad! centers on super patriotic CIA agent Stan Smith (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) and the misadventures of his unconventional family in Langley Falls, Va. The irreverent, satirical, award-winning animated comedy is created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman, executive-produced by co-showrunner Brian Boyle along with creators MacFarlane and Weitzman. Then, on Monday, February 26th, TBS will debut the new animated intergalactic space saga Final Space on at 10:30 immediately following American Dad! for an hour-long animation block.
- Comedy superstar and multiple Emmy® nominee Tracy Morgan returns to television with TBS starring in The Last O.G., a new comedy series that he executive produces alongside creator and executive producer Jordan Peele. TBS, which currently dominates as the number one television’s #1 comedy network, adds the new Morgan/Peele series to this year’s slate of programming to continue its solid and successful run of well- received original series. Beginning April 3, episodes will air Tuesdays at 10:30.
- When 10-year-old Elliott asks his 90-year-old great-grandfather, Jack, about the number tattooed on his arm, he sparks an intimate conversation about Jack’s life that spans happy memories of childhood in Poland, the loss of his family, surviving Auschwitz, and finding a new life in America. Directed and produced by Emmy® winner Amy Schatz, the short film The Numbers on Grandpa’s Arm weaves in haunting historical footage and hand-painted animation to tell a heartbreaking story of Jewish life in Eastern Europe before and during the Holocaust. The film, presented by HBO with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, debuts Saturday, JAN. 27 (6:00-6:20 pm ET/PT), International Holocaust Remembrance Day, exclusively on HBO. The film will also be available on HBO On Demand, HBO NOW, HBO GO and affiliate portals.
- In a stellar career that spans half a century, John Hiatt has built a massive collection of recordings that's been an ongoing source of inspiration for fans, critics and other artists. Hiatt's catalog encompasses more than 22 studio albums, including several acknowledged classics. But the veteran singer-songwriter’s 1987 album Bring the Family and its 1988 follow-up Slow Turning have earned special status, and remain beloved cornerstones of the veteran artist's prestigious body of work. On January 26, A&M Records/UMe will celebrate these high-water marks of Hiatt’s and their 30th anniversaries with newly remastered vinyl editions, making them available on vinyl for the first time since their original release. The long out-of-print records will be pressed on high-quality 180-gram black vinyl, along with a special limited-edition colored vinyl variant of each. Bring the Family will be released on clear with grey smoke 180-gram vinyl, while Slow Turning will be on translucent red 180-gram vinyl. The colored vinyl editions, limited to 500 each, will be available exclusively at Sound of Vinyl and on Hiatt’s upcoming tour.
- Smithsonian Channel roars into the New Year with season two of the fast-paced, high-octane series, Supercar Superbuild. Eight all-new hour-long episodes delve deep into the creation and design of some of the world’s greatest automobile makers: Alfa Romeo, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Porsche, Audi and more. It probes what makes each machine’s mechanical prowess stand out, and it checks under the hood to learn what contributes to the high performance and artistry of these engineering marvels. The Jaguar F-Type SVR charges from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just under four seconds and rages to a top speed of 200 mph. More than 97 yards of aluminum welds make up an Audi R8’s frame. The sporty Rolls Royce Wraith, complete with exotic wood and sumptuous leather, is valued at upwards of $275,000. These are just some of the stunning automobiles featured on an all-new season of Supercar Superbuild, premiering Sunday, January 21 at 9:00 on Smithsonian Channel.
- FOX Sports, the exclusive English-language home of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, kicks off the year announcing new Snapchat and Twitter agreements for the global event. The relationships will provide dynamic opportunities tailored to each respective social media platform and its wide, growing audience. “These exciting collaborations with Twitter and Snapchat mark a major opportunity to leverage the world’s greatest sports moment and our talent beyond the TV screen,” says Alexis Ginas, SVP of Cross-Platform Solutions, FOX Sports. “Alongside our FOX Sports-owned properties, they’ll help amplify this summer’s incredible live events programming – 64 matches total at the FIFA World Cup. We’ll immerse fans in the ‘beautiful game’ even further through our experts and fun, creative content from Moscow.”
- Emmy-winning actor and comedian Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) will guest star in the Showtime drama series I’m Dying Up Here in a season-long arc. Garrett will play comedy legend Roy Martin, who arrives on the scene at Goldie’s and drops bombs and wisdom on the club’s comics. Goldie (Melissa Leo) lures him into a business partnership as she schemes to expand her empire. Created and executive produced by Dave Flebotte and executive produced by Golden Globe® winner Jim Carrey and Michael Aguilar, the fictional I’M DYING UP HERE explores L.A.’s famed ’70s stand-up comedy scene. The second season will premiere on Sunday, May 6 at 10:00.
- Hulu announced Marvel’s Runaways and Future Man have been renewed for second seasons.
- Television’s fastest growing late night show and ad supported television’s #1 late night show among young adults has been renewed for two new seasons by TBS. The Emmy Award-winning Full Frontal with Samantha Bee will return Wednesday, February 7 in its usual timeslot at 10:30.
- Turner’s TBS has renewed the hit unscripted series’ Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild and Drop the Mic for second seasons. The network re-launched its unscripted business in 2017 with the re-imagined, classic game show reboot and the celebrity-led rap battle competition. They soon emerged as the top two unscripted cable comedies in 2017, reaching an average of 2.5M viewers per episode across TBS’s linear, VOD, and digital platforms and have earned over 200 million social and Youtube views to date. Drop the Mic climbed digital audience score rankings week over week, holding the #1 spot three weeks in a row, based on all prime-time comedies that aired new episodes.
- Game Show Network’s one-hour documentary special Cover Story: Meghan Markle – The Prince and the Game Show Model, premiering on January 21st at 7:00, will detail Meghan Markle’s story from modest beginnings in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, to “Deal or No Deal” model, to hit-show actress, to humanitarian, and finally as Harry’s bride-to-be. And before the show, catch a marathon of Meghan’s Deal Or No Deal episodes from 9 am to 3 pm ET also on GSN.
Shameless: Why was there so much walking between the car and the Canadian border? Seems like it would be easier to cross.
SMILF: So Bridget tries to entrap her creepy father, when it turns out not to be him, the girls end up having a dance party instead. I guess that is a pretty appropriate finale to the season.
Lucifer: Remember when South Park ended on a cliffhanger on who Cartman’s father was, then came back from a break (on April Fool’s Day) with a Terrence and Howard special and promptly went back on break. I was reminded of that this week when, after the show revealed Superman was in fact Cain, the first murder, leaving us wonder what it all means. But instead of answering that, we get a flashback episode. And then no show next week. Or the week after that. Meh.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.
The Gifted: Oh my goodness, the triplets are so great. Give them and the Hellfire Club a spin off. Or just make them the focal point of this show.
You can download The Gifted on iTunes.
Marvel’s Runaways: Wait, mom did not know daughter was an alien? Jonah has to be her father, right, he is an alien too? Then why did dad sell her out, it is because of the healing gloves? And why are him and Jonah letting the kids into the construction site when they have to know they were trying to shut it down? Unless Jonah needs them, or at least one of them, there for some reason. And the parent too, which is why he just told them when he has apparently known for a while the kids knew. But here we are with one episode left and the Runaways have not actually runaway yet. All were got was some lame meta joke about naming their group that.
You can stream episodes of Marvel's Runaways on Hulu.
The Challenge: Vendettas: My biggest take away from the Vendetta’s premiere: what a massive downgrade Brad. Seriously, how do go from one of the top five most attractive cast members to someone who may not even be in the top one hundred? Seriously dude, you just embarrassed yourself on national television. That was like Hugh Grant stuff right there. I really those two did not have any children. Then my biggest takeaway from Champs vs. Stars: wait, we still have one more week (at least) after this?
You can download The Challenge: Vendettas on iTunes.
The X-Files: Usually the “Previously On” segment are really helpful for shows, but I came away from this one more confused. And only got more confused as the show went on. So what was the last season finale, a vision of the future? Meh, the Chris Carter written episodes are so bad, he just needs to hand the show over to someone else.
You can download The X-Files on iTunes.
The Blacklist: C’mon, did they really have to kill the dog? I mean, yeah the mailman dying was sad too. Also, was leaving Agnes with Scottie a wise decision. Sure none of her grandparents are what I would consider trustworthy, but she really is not much of an upgrade from Red.
You can download The Blacklist on iTunes.
Vikings: I guess you cannot blame Bjorn for high talking it out of Arabia, but that was my favorite part of this season, just somewhere new. Of course we still have Loki’s (presumably) Iceland adventure where it looks like he may be inventing socialism. But back in Kattegard Bjorn was quick to find someone new (and that princess sure was kinky) but even quicker was his half-brother moving in on his other wife. That relationship and many other will make it interesting on how the whole invasion will pan out. Harold’s queen is really the only one to truly show their card as to whose side they are really on.
You can download Vikings on iTunes.
Knightfall: Well that was a pretty elaborate way to get out of a wedding. Nice that the brother also tried to kill the king while he was at it, too bad the Templars messed that plan up.
You can download Knightfall on iTunes.
The Good Place: Oh no, what is to happen to the Real Eleanor? Hopefully she escapes her cocoon soon. But are all the demons gone from the neighborhood now? But doesn’t that mean the neighborhood will be gone soon.
You can download The Good Place on iTunes.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: So Fitz shot the button to wall them off from the Kree, but couldn’t the Kree just re-push the button and go after them? And how thin skinned are the Kree if they can be cut with a butter knife?
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.
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 COVER STORY: The Press Your Luck Scandal, The Coronation, The Alienist, and The Circus.
- Hulu, Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation today announced a new deal to create and premiere a brand-new version of the iconic family friendly cartoon franchise Animaniacs. Under the two-season straight-to-series order, Steven Spielberg will return as executive producer of the series, with Sam Register, President, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series, and Amblin Television Co-Presidents Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank also serving as executive producers. The series marks the first Hulu Original made for families, and with the legacy of these beloved characters, is intended to provide a co-viewing opportunity and experience for families to enjoy together. New episodes are set to premiere on the premium streaming service in 2020.
- Game Show Network, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, announced today the premiere of its new documentary special, COVER STORY: The Press Your Luck Scandal, premiering Sunday, January 14 at 7:00. Additionally, the original scandalous Press Your Luck episodes featured in the special will air following the show at 8 and 8:30 pm ET. The COVER STORY special will explore the story of Michael Larson, an air conditioning repairman from Ohio who cracked the game board algorithm and walked away with over $110,000 in cash and prizes. There was a one-in-six chance that each spin he took would erase his winnings, but Larson managed to evade the dreaded Whammy and accumulate the record breaking amount. Audiences went wild, but game show producers wanted to know how he did it. Had he cheated? Or did he simply outsmart the smartest minds in Hollywood?
- In partnership with the BBC and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Smithsonian Channel shares the compelling story of the Crown Jewels and the ancient ceremony for which they are used in The Coronation. On June 2, 1953, after 16 months of planning, The Queen set out from Buckingham Palace to be crowned at Westminster Abbey, in a ceremony that was watched by millions of people throughout the world. A ceremony dating back more than a thousand years was to herald the dawn of a new Elizabethan age. As part of the film, to mark the 65th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen's Coronation, The Queen shares memories of the ceremony, as well as that of her father King George VI in 1937. The special airs in the U.S. exclusively on Smithsonian Channel on January 14 at 8:00.
- The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills will take visitors inside the opulent Gilded Age of the new TNT series, The Alienist, through multiple costume creations, photography, illustrations, and more from award-winning costume designer Michael Kaplan, the visionary behind the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Blade Runner, Fight Club and Flashdance.
Visitors will have the exclusive opportunity to preview the series’ costumes and other artifacts before its TNT debut on January 22. An unflinching psychological thriller amidst the underbelly of New York City’s “Gilded Age,” The Alienist follows Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl, Rush), a brilliant and obsessive “Alienist” in the controversial new field of treating mental pathologies, who holds the key to hunting down a never-before-seen ritualistic killer murdering young boys. Based on the award-winning, fan-favorite novel by Caleb Carr, with standout performances from Luke Evans (The Girl on the Train) and Dakota Fanning (American Pastoral), The Alienist is a gripping, turn-of-the-century murder mystery like none other: the story of the emergence of the world’s most powerful city that will stop at nothing to bury its darkest secrets.
- Showtime has ordered a third season of the groundbreaking political documentary series The Circus, returning on April 15 at 8:00 on Showtime, with a run of new episodes to air in the spring and another in the fall. Hosted by John Heilemann (NBC/MSNBC, Game Change,), Mark McKinnon, and Alex Wagner (CBS News and The Atlantic), who joins the show as a permanent host this season, The Circus will continue to provide viewers with the same fast-paced, real-time, backstage perspective and eye-catching production qualities for which the show has been celebrated. In the year ahead, the series will explore the stories behind the headlines and pull back the curtain on the behind-the-scenes drama unfolding in Washington and across the country in the run-up to the most consequential mid-term elections in our lifetimes.
The Chi opens with a teenager strolling through his neighborhood and night until he happens upon a dead body. If I ever came across a dead body I like to think I would instantly calling the police but honestly, fleeing in terror is not completely off the table. But Coogie stares at the lifeless body before taking off its chain and sneaker and only flees when her hears sirens in the distance. Then he stashes his stolen goods before trying to blend into a crowd.
Of course I am just an old white guy from the suburbs and only read about the troubling times in Chicago. Despite all the statistics that come out of Chicago, life still goes on for the people surviving and trying not to become a statistic. The Chi follows four black males at various stage of life with nothing to tie them together aside from tangential relationship to that dead body that opens the show.
Kevin is in middle school and still has to deal with something all pre-teens obsess over: girls and grades. Granted these kids curse more in one scene than me and my friends did in all of middle school. Emmitt is a teenager with actual girl problems; one shows up with a baby she claims is his and bolts. Brandon, Coogie’s older brother, is a line chef on the nicer side of town with dreams of his restaurant and setting down with his real estate girlfriend but the city keeps pulling him back in. Then there is Ronnie, middle aged, who always seems to find a way to get by.
Each of the four have their own circle of acquaintances and rarely run into each other, but when they do, you know something important is happening and the show rarely falling into the problem where characters rarely runs into each other feels annoying. A fifth somewhat major character shows up in episode with an unknown agenda that also seems to tie into that original murder. There is also detective doing an official investigation and seems to be a stand-up guy even though none of the other characters trust the police. And maybe for good reason because there seems to be some of his co-workers have some shady objectives.
The Chi is a refreshing look at storytelling done much better than other shows that tried to tell stories by marginally related characters. Sure it can be frustrating at times as I sometimes ask, why not just go to the police (which may not be totally a race thing, I found myself saying the same thing to the dumb white girls on Pretty Little Liars). And the storytelling gets too cute at times too. The third episode ends in an annoying cliffhanger and then the fourth episode starts minutes later, missing the climax of the cliffhanger. And it is not until the end of the episode when you learn what exactly when down. But still, The Chi is the strongest start to a Showtime in a long time.
Before I get into the best things to look forward to in the next twelve months, let me highlight a few things not on my list. First off, there is the World Cup which will not be featuring the United States of America on account they failed to qualify this year. Then there is Marvel’s New Warriors that was supposed to debut on Freeform this year except they passed on the show. We may still get to see the show this year as Marvel is still shopping it around. Um, now that Disney who own Marvel and pretty much owns Hulu, after purchasing Fox’s shares, totaling sixty percent, seems like a good spot to me. They already have Marvel’s Runaway. Really, I just want to see the AT&T Girl and Squirrel Girl sooner than later.
Another possible event this year I have zero interest in is the potential reboot of the XFL. Recently Vince McMahon sold off a bunch of WWE stock and is reportedly going to use that money to get his failed football league up and running again. Hard pass. I, like much of America, watched the first game, laughed, and stopped after that. Why someone would think it could work a decade and a half later has to be senile. Sure some people have lost interest in the NFL, and I am one of them but my disinterest is in not wanting to watch people get brain damage anymore, a presumably more violent XFL is not going to help that.
10. Wako (January 22 on the Paramount Channel) – Poor Tim Riggins, he was pegged to be the breakout star from Friday Night Lights but followed the show up with being the lead in two historic bombs (and that does not include X-Men Origins: Wolverine where he was not asked back to be Gambit in future films). This will be his first major lead role since. Notorious Nineties nostalgia was big last year with OJ, the Menendez Brothers and Tonya Harding getting stories on the big and small screens, and now Riggins is playing cult leader David Koresh. Then there is also Michael Shannon as one of the Feds and Melissa Benoist as one of the cultist (yes Zod and Supergirl on the same show). Now I am sure your first question is, what the fork is the Paramount Channel? Now it is not a new streaming service, it is not really even a new cable channel, it was Spike, and before that Spike TV, and before that The New TNN, and before that The National Network, and before that The Nashville Network, which I believe was the last time I watched the cannel back when it aired Dukes of Hazard reruns.
9. Game Night (February 23) – Really any cast that boasts Rachel McAdams, George Bluth, and a Friday Night Lights reunion of Coach Taylor and Landry Clarke is must see in my book. But the trailer makes the movie look forking hilarious. From the trailer, it looks like an action comedy where a group of couples are brought together to solve a murder mystery, except the host gets captured for real (maybe), but everyone still thinks it is part of the game. Awesome.
8. Ruins - First Aid Kit (January 19) – Folk rock may be my favorite genre of the decade and First Aid Kit has had a few songs that have made my year end lists, but It’s a Shame released last year is by far my favorite from the band so far. Hopefully the album lives up to the single.
7. Titans (TBD) – Okay, we need a new streaming service like we need a hole in the head, but it seems like every content maker is going to have their own standalone service rather than selling it elsewhere. It started last year with CBS All Access. Next DC is starting their own. And Disney has one slated for 2018. But the DC streaming service will at least get me to do a free trial just to check out Titans whom are apparently not going to be teenagers (at least not most of them). But most importantly, Lyla Garrity was cast in a supporting role with potential for her own spin off. No word on when this will air or when the DC streaming service even starts, but the only other show announced, a Young Justice reboot, does have a vague release date of "Fall 2018".
6. Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves (TBD) / Untitled Vampire Weekend Album – Kacey Musgraves released one of my favorite debut albums of the decade and my favorite country album in over a decade. There was a sophomore slump for the follow up but I am still looking forward to it. In other Musgraves news, lead singer Ezra Koenig said the next Vampire Weekend album is inspired by the country singer which made me that much more interested in a new album by the alt-rock band.
5. Women’s Royal Rumble (January 28) – I watched wrestling as a kid and then again in college, but again fell off slightly after that. Do not ask me why, but I started listening to the Grantland wrestling podcast, probably because I listened to them all. And when David Shoemaker bolted with Bill Simmons to the Ringer, I ended listening to two wrestling podcast. I did start tangentially following sports entertainment because of it. Then last year Alexa Bliss and I became instantly interested in the Women’s Division as she quickly became the second best bad guy ever (after the late great Rowdy Roddy Piper).
Growing up, women were just arm candy for the men. They started wrestling again in the nineties, but it was not much better as they just hired fitness models and actual models; Trish Status actually was the head of a team called T and A. WWE tried to legitimate them with the Women’s Revaluation, even retiring the Diva’s Title in 2015, but it was just the same three factions of three wrestling the same matches over and over again. But with the brand split, the two main shows need more bodies and Bliss was one of the call up.
After Survivor Series, the WWE called up five more women (along with the returning Paige) and now we are getting an all-female Royal Rumble, which was always my favorite match since WWE started it back in 1988. It is vague on the rules. The men’s is a thirty men over the top rope competition where a new competitor comes down to the ring ever two(ish) minutes with the winner getting a title match at Wrestlemania. The title match is the only stipulation. Currently right now, there are only eleven women on both Raw and Smackdown (but that is including Lana who has not wrestled in months and Nikki Bella who has not been seen since Wrestlemania). And wo of them are currently champions who are typically in the Royal Rumble. But there are ten women currently in NXT which brings you to 29 non champions’ women employed by the WWE. Of course the Royal Rumble is known for its surprise returns, you have to imagine, there are plenty of retired wrestlers who would like to be in a Rumble, and a few shocking debuts (Ronda Rosey has been teasing her involvement in the WWE for years). I may actually have to take the WWE up on their free trial to watch history.
4. More Marvel Movies (Various dates) – We are getting our fair share of Marvel movies this year but what makes things more interesting is Disney recently announced they are buying 20th Century Fox movie studios which means Disney now owns all things Marvel including X-Men and Fantastic Four (well Sony still technically owns the rights to Spider-Man but he has shown up in a couple Marvel movies after the last film reboot failed). Could those universes collide this year? Doubtful they will be included in the already bloated Infinity War, but maybe they add something to the end credit scene to tease their inclusion in Phase Four (which comes after the next Avengers movie next year). Here is the rundown of all eight (!) movies based on Marvel properties: Black Panther (February, 16), The New Mutants (April 13), Avengers: Infinity War (May 4), Deadpool 2 (July 1), Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6), Venom (October 5), X-Men: Dark Phoenix (November 2), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (December 14; note this is an animated movie that does not seemed to be tied to any live action universe). Oh yeah, they also have new television show Cloak and Dagger coming to Freeform sometime this year too while Runaways has its season finale next week and, again, there is a chance New Warriors finds a home this year.
3. Rise (March 12 on NBC) – They had me at from the producer of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, but throw in a producer of Hamilton, a live action Moana, and, welcome back Marley Shelton. It seemed like she was the next big thing at the turn of the century but other than Sin City, it is hard to think of anything she has done since Sugar and Spice. I think there was a one and done Lifetime show.
2. The XXIII Olympic Winter Games (February 9) – It is the end of an era as for the first time since 1988, an Olympic Games will not be hosted in prime time by Bob Costas (unless you count when he came down with pink eye at the last winter event). Instead Mike Tirico will oversee the proceedings after being ESPN’s/ABC’s lead host. Ironically also absent these games will be the last Winter host Russia who was ban after state sponsored doping scandal (Russians not tested positive can participate under an independent flag). Also not taking the trip to South Korea will be NHL players who will not participate for the first time since 1998. But hey, it will be the only time in four years we get to watch curling on television and Costas may be gone but I am sure Mary Carillo, who only seems to pop up during Olympics, will have a special interest story or two.
1. Black Manta (in Aquaman, December 21) – I audibly laughed when I heard DC was making a live action Aquaman movie. Aquaman is lame and always has been (with the lone exception of the over the top version from Batman: The Brave and the Bold). The green and orange color palette is hard to look at. But then I got actually kind of excited because that meant we might get a Black Manta, my personal favorite supervillain, sighting. As some who grew up with a heavy dose of the Super Friends, I gravitated to the villain in the Legion of Doom who would beat the crap out of Aquaman. The problem is that Ocean Master was first announced as the film’s antagonist. But it was later announced Black Manta would also be in the film.
Of course Black Manta could play a bigger role moving forward… if there is a DC movie universe. Aquaman could be a make or break point. All the movies sans Wonder Woman have been received as mediocre at best while Justice League bombed at the box office. Then nothing after Aquaman has even started filming (yes, there are eight Marvel movies this year but only one DC movie) even though thirteen other films have been formally announced, If Aquaman under performs, that could be the end of the DC Movie Universe (for now at least). But if they do move forward, my sources tell me that Justice League teased the Legion of Doom while a Flashpoint movie is also on the DC docket and Black Manta is featured in the comic version of that. Plus Flashpoint could serve as a hard reboot to get rid of everything that has not worked (Batfleck, sullen Superman, Leto's Joker). But again, if Aquaman fails, we may just get Wonder Woman throughout history films for the next decade until DC can figure things out.
Since tonight marks the return of television (seriously, too soon networks, can we have more than a week and a half break?), here is what I will be watching while trying to avoid going outside in the cold. Seriously, I saw a few negative lows this week.
Mondays
8:00 – Lucifer (January 1, FOX)
8:00 - Supergirl (January 15, The CW)
9:00 – The Gifted (January 1, FOX)
9:00 – The Alienist (January 22, TNT)
10:00 – Good Girls (February 26, NBC)
Tuesdays
8:00 – The Middle (January 2, ABC)
8:00 – Shadowhunters (April 3, Freeform)
9:00 – Black’ish (January 2, ABC)
9:00 – Rise (March 13, NBC; first week at 10:00)
9:30 – The Mayor (January 9, ABC)
10:00 – The Challenge: Vendettas (January 2, MTV)
10:00 – Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (January, 2)
10:30 – The Detour (January 23, TBS)
Wednesdays
The Path (January 17, Hulu)
Hard Sun (March 7, Hulu)
8:00 – The Librarians (Already Started, TNT)
8:00 - The X-Files (January 3, Fox)
8:00 – The Blacklist (January 3, NBC)
8:00 – The Goldbergs (January 3, ABC)
8:00 – Grown-ish (January 3, Freeform)
8:00 – Survivor (February 28, CBS)
8:00 – Modern Family (January 3)
10:00 – Waco (Paramount Network, January 24)
Thursdays
8:00 – Superstore (January 4, NBC)
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (January 4, CBS)
8:30 – The Good Place (January 4, NBC)
9:00 – Nashville (January 4, CMT)
9:30 – Great News (January 4, NBC)
Fridays
8:00 – Blindspot (January 12, NBC)
8:00 – XXIII Olympics Winter Games Opening Ceremony (February 9, NBC)
8:00 - Once Upon a Time (Match 2, ABC)
9:00 – Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (January 5, ABC)
Saturdays
9:00 – Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (February 10, Showtime)
Sundays
The Looming Tower (February 18, Hulu)
8:00 – Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (April 1, NBC)
9:00 – Homeland (February 11, Showtime)
10:00 - The Chi (January 7, Showtime)
Marvel’s Runaways: The mysterious figure that walked in on Amy as she was leaving has to be Jonah right? I guess maybe one of the other Pride members could also make sense. And what a complete cop out of not killing anyone to save angry dad. You cannot spend half an episode deciding who dies only to have on person destroyed the pod at the last minute. Though I kind of like the evilness of saying there has to be a sacrifice now, and then after that could not happen be like, never mind, we will figure out something else later. But after finding the footage of their parents being evil, the Runaways have to actually runaway next week, right.
You can stream episodes of Marvel's Runaways on Hulu.
The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars: So Josh, who wert twice, had the fastest overall time (beating self-proclaimed state champion swimmer Wes), Kim had the fastest female time, the Stars got seven more flags than the Champs… but still lost by ten seconds. How sad. With Vendetta starting next week, I hope that means that means next week is the last for this pitiful special.
You can download The Challenge: Dirty 30 on iTunes.
The Librarians: Wait, Jenkins gave up his immortality to someone who themselves have also lived hundreds of years? Isn’t he more important than her? And if he is no longer immortal, shouldn’t he have turned to dust? So is the old Guardian going to become the new Jenkins since he may die soon? Or are they going to find a way for him to become immortal again? I guess they should have captured Rasputin and transfer his immortality to the Guardian.
You can download The Librarians on iTunes.
Vikings: So Bjorn’s Mediterranean adventure is not going well. But the desert was never really a good place for the fair skinned.
You can download Vikings on iTunes.
Knightfall: So Godfrey had the Grail all along and young Landry knew about it? Alrighty. So when Godfrey went to the Middle East in that first scene, he already knew what they had was not the Grail. Then you had the princess once again acting creepy towards her uncle.
You can download Knightfall on iTunes.
See You Around - 