Around the Tubes: 10/19/2018

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 Real World, Anthony Hamilton, Kansas, Mr Little Jeans, HONEYHONEY, America in Color, Cover Story, TEAMCOCOHOUSE, M.D. Live, and Black Monday.

- MTV Studios, a unit of Viacom’s (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA) MTV, announced today a partnership with Facebook Watch to reimagine the groundbreaking series MTV’s The Real World for three all new seasons debuting Spring 2019. Drawing on Facebook’s global platform, the new seasons will be native productions in Mexico, Thailand and the United States, respectively, to explore friendship, and the cultural and social environment in each. Available exclusively on Facebook Watch, the new seasons will introduce interactive social and community features that empower fans to shape the action and connect across mobile, desktop and Facebook's TV app.

- Iconic GRAMMY® Award-winning multiplatinum-selling R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Anthony Hamilton made a stop by his hometown radio station WUNC for a candid conversation. The Interview, which lasted for about 48 minutes, touched on few topics regarding Hamilton's thoughts on being married, not being the star of the church choir, racism and more. Check out the full interview on WUNC.org.

- America’s preeminent progressive rock band, KANSAS, will be touring select cities in the United States and Canada next spring, expanding the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of their massive hit album Point of Know Return. For the first time in history, the band is performing the album Point of Know Return in its entirety. The tour showcases more than two hours of classic KANSAS music including hit songs, deep cuts, and fan favorites. Tickets and KANSAS VIP Packages for most dates go on sale to the general public Friday, October 19, 2018. Ticket information can be found at kansasband.com.

- Norway's Mr Little Jeans (Monica Birkenes) returns today with her politically charged track, "Unfollow", premiering on THE FADER. With glitchy textures and a slow-building bass line, the song has a breezy aesthetic, but carries a darker narrative that tells of the now LA based artist's political frustrations. She explains - "Lyrically, Unfollow was something that had been rummaging around my head ever since Trump got elected. The sinking feeling of this new, horrid reality is something I'll never forget. I was completely unprepared for even the possibility of this happening, let alone how deeply this would depress and affect me. It brought to a harsh light how much of a bubble my closest and I had been living in."

- CBS Television Studios released this week the soundtrack for Season 1 of their hit TBS comedy series The Guest Book. Available everywhere, Season 1: Live at Chubby's features an 11 track collection of cover songs and new original songs written and performed by the critically acclaimed Americana duo HONEYHONEY. Comprised of Benjamin Jaffe and Suzanne Santo, who also have recurring roles in the show, HONEYHONEY were approached by Executive Producer Greg Garcia (My Name Is Earl, Raising Hope) and Music Supervisor Jonathan Leahy (Girls, Mr. Robot) to write several songs for the series, along with the award-winning theme song "Fine By Me", and were eventually cast as actors as well. After it's debut season last year, The Guest Book became the highest rated new comedy show on cable reaching more than 3 million viewers per episode. The New York Times raved "Helping considerably: the music of the alt-country blues duo HONEYHONEY, which is smartly deployed throughout the series." Watch the video for "Arrow of Love" HERE.

- Smithsonian Channel continues putting the color back into history, restoring it to life with the return of America in Color. Season two dives even deeper into historical archives, private collections and home movies, digitizing over 23 miles of footage, in search of the people, places and moments – big and small – that helped define the 20th century. Through rare imagery of the birth of American traditions like the Girl Scouts and the first Indianapolis 500 to in-game footage of the infamous 1919 Black Sox World Series and even the legendary Rockefeller family’s own home movies, the series continues to use startlingly detailed restoration and colorization to bridge the decades and present history as it was lived – in color. Building on the decade-by-decade approach of season one, season two captures the country’s explosive transformation: the men and women who drove it, its impact on the land and society at large, and the birth of a mass culture that we still recognize today. From the Golden Age of Hollywood to the Wild West and organized crime, the new season explores some of the most significant moments in American history, now in color for the first time. AMERICA IN COLOR returns Sunday, November 18 at 8:00.

- Tune-in Sunday evening to explore the incredible stories of contestants who won the largest prizes and had the most memorable wins on some of the most popular and beloved game shows. From Ken Jennings’ record 74-game-winning streak on “Jeopardy!” to Caitlyn Burke guessing a 27-letter “Wheel of Fortune” phrase with just one letter, to Georgia School Superintendent Kathy Cox winning $1 Million on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” this Cover Story will go in depth with never-before-seen interviews of TV’s greatest contestants and delve into the effects of the winnings on their life - what they did with their huge prizes and where they are now.

- Team Coco and TBS are bringing back the successful comedy pop-up which launched last July at San Diego Comic-Con. TEAMCOCOHOUSE will open its doors as part of the 15th annual New York Comedy Festival, on Wednesday, November 7th at SONY HALL, 235 W 46th St New York, NY 10036. The newest version of TEAMCOCOHOUSE will showcase a daily lineup handpicked by Conan – stand-ups, podcasts, musical acts, magicians, a talk show, and special appearances by friends of Team Coco, as well as O’Brien himself.

- On the heels of the 10 episode series order of M.D. Live (working title), the groundbreaking, live, factual series that seeks solutions worldwide for people with medical mysteries and crises who are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, Turner today announced that renowned, award-winning journalist Ann Curry has signed on to anchor and executive produce. The innovative show that will tap into the worldwide phenomenon of medical crowdsourcing is co-produced by Turner and Lionsgate Television.

- The new SHOWTIME comedy Black Monday is adding to its guest star lineup with Emmy® and two-time Oscar® nominee Bruce Dern (Big Love), Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) and Horatio Sanz (Saturday Night Live, Glow) signing on, along with Julie Hagerty (Airplane, Instant Family), Vanessa Bell Calloway (SHAMELESS, Saints & Sinners), Tim Russ (iCarly) and Jason Michael Snow (Book of Mormon). The 10-episode series is executive produced and stars Emmy® nominated and Golden Globe® winning actor Don Cheadle and stars two-time Tony® Award nominee and Grammy® winner Andrew Rannells (Girls) and Regina Hall (Girls Trip). Paul Scheer (The League) also stars. Creators David Caspe (Happy Endings) and Jordan Cahan (My Best Friend’s Girl) serve as executive producers and showrunners. Emmy nominees Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Preacher, Superbad) are executive producers and directed the pilot. Currently in production, BLACK MONDAY will premiere in January.