I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post includes blurbs on The Chi, Secret Invasion, Solar Opposites, All up in the Biz, Yellowjackets, The Beach Boys, Taylor Swift, Babylon 5, Rick and Morty, and POV.
- In advance of the much-anticipated expanded season of THE CHI, SHOWTIME has released the official trailer for its hit drama series returning this summer. After reaching a series high in streaming last season, the first eight episodes of the extended 16-episode sixth season will stream weekly on the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan beginning Friday, August 4, with the season premiere debuting on linear Sunday, August 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME.
- To celebrate the highly anticipated “Secret Invasion” finale on Disney+, The Walt Disney Company will offer viewers a special opportunity to watch the first three episodes of the hit series on its Hulu platform, starting tomorrow. Marking the occasion, a Skrull invasion is imminent at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend: fans attending the convention may bump into – or become – one of the menacing shapeshifters. “Secret Invasion” episodes “Resurrection,” “Promises” and “Betrayed” will stream on Hulu from Friday, July 21, through Thursday, August 17. Marvel Studios’ thrilling espionage series “Secret Invasion” is streaming on Disney+, where subscribers currently have access to the first five episodes, with Episode 6, the finale, premiering next Wednesday, July 26.
- Citizens of Earth, prepare yourselves for an epic new season of “Solar Opposites,” crash landing on Hulu on Monday, August 14 with 11 episodes, followed by a Valentine’s Day special coming in 2024.TRAILER: HERE “Solar Opposites” centers around a team of four aliens who are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome. Korvo (Dan Stevens) and Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) only see the pollution, crass consumerism, and human frailty while Terry (Thomas Middleditch) and Jesse (Mary Mack) love TV, junk food and fun stuff. In Season 4, we pack up the sci-fi and get normal… for a second. Then it’s back to classic Solar chaos, mayhem in the Wall, and some all new Silvercops adventures!
- SHOWTIME announced that ALL UP IN THE BIZ, directed by Sacha Jenkins (WU-TANG CLAN: OF MICS AND MEN, Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues) will premiere Friday, August 11, streaming on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME before making its on-air debut that same day at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. The documentary feature, which premiered at Tribeca Festival(R) last month, is the definitive story of late, great rapper Biz Markie, who is best known for his mega hit “Just a Friend.” Featuring never before seen footage, musical interludes, animation, puppetry, and interviews with Biz Markie and other prominent figures in hip hop – from Fat Joe to Nick Cannon to Tracy Morgan – ALL UP IN THE BIZ is a heartwarming portrait of how one underdog’s dreams – fortified by an unwavering determination and a wicked sense of humor – would come true inside the world of hip hop and far beyond. The film traces how Markie created a lane for himself in hip hop while also helping his friends, many of whom (Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, E.P.M.D.) would become legends in their own right. Crowned “The Clown Prince of Hip Hop,” Markie was a beatbox wiz who was known for his comical rhymes and generally whimsical ways. A native of Long Island, Markie’s gift swiftly propelled him through hip hop history; he would inspire rap icons like Rakim and Big Daddy Kane in the process. The ride had a few bumps (like the groundbreaking sampling lawsuit he was wrapped up in) but in the end, Biz Markie was recognized as the actual personification of hip hop. ALL UP IN THE BIZ chronicles Markie’s extraordinary tale, from humble beginnings, often living with a foster family after the death of his mother, to pop culture ubiquity, and ultimately speaks to how an individual can chart their own destiny and shape the future of a culture.
- Universal Music Canada (UMC) and SHOWTIME announce Yellowjackets Season 2 Official Soundtrack: Music from the Original Series for release on September 1 in CD and digital formats. The official soundtrack from the SHOWTIME Emmy®-nominated drama series YELLOWJACKETS is available for pre-order now including instant grat access to the previously released Alanis Morrisette single, “No Return (Extended Version)” and new alternative version, “No Return (Lottie’s Dream Sequence).” This past April, seven-time Grammy® Award-winning singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette released “No Return (Extended Version)” to critical acclaim. Billboard commended Morissette’s rendition of the track and the way in which it added, “an industrial gothic layer to the original while spiking it with her signature keening, mesmerizing vocals.” “No Return” (Main Title Theme) by YELLOWJACKETS composers, Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker, was originally released in January 2022.
- Summer isn’t quite summer without the sunshiny melodies and irresistible harmonies of The Beach Boys, and this summer is chock full of exciting activity from “America’s Band,” from new Dolby Atmos® mixes of iconic hits, the return of their highly popular SiriusXM channel, Good Vibrations: The Beach Boys Channel, a stunning and definitive official tome, a fun coloring book, a high octane EDM remix of “Fun, Fun, Fun” by multi-platinum artist, producer and DJ, Steve Aoki, and Barbie herself, Margot Robbie, sharing her love for The Beach Boys. Starting yesterday, five of the group’s classic albums from 1963 and 1964, Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Vol. 2 and All Summer Long, are available to stream in immersive Dolby Atmos audio at Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited and Tidal HiFi Plus. The albums were mixed by The Beach Boys’ longtime producer and engineer, three-time GRAMMY® award winner Mark Linett, from the original tapes, and follow the recently released, critically hailed Dolby Atmos mix of Pet Sounds mixed by producer Giles Martin. The new Dolby Atmos mixes retain the feel of the revered albums while offering a fresh perspective, putting listeners in the center of the music by revealing details with unparalleled clarity and depth.
Stream the albums in Dolby Atmos here:
- Taylor Swift has made history by achieving “the biggest debut for an album this year” with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), registering first-week sales of 716 thousand album equivalents in the US and over 1 million album equivalents worldwide, landing her at #1 on the Billboard 200. At the same time, it makes history by scoring “the biggest sales week for a re-recorded album ever,” besting even the 1 million first-week global consumption of Red (Taylor’s Version) in 2021. Plus, it notched the “second biggest vinyl sales week in Nielsen history,” following Taylor Swift’s Midnights. In addition, Taylor is the first living artist in nearly 60 years with four of the top ten on the Billboard 200 with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, Lover, and Folklore. Listen HERE.
- In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is releasing the groundbreaking original sci-fi TV series Babylon 5 on Blu-ray for the first time ever! On December 5, just in time for holiday gift giving, Babylon 5: The Complete Series will be available at online retailers with all 110 original episodes fully remastered in HD. The highly anticipated release is one fans don’t want to miss! Babylon 5 is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski that ran for five seasons from 1994–1998. The critically acclaimed franchise debuted in 1993 with the pilot film The Gathering. The series then launched a year later and ran for five seasons and 110 additional episodes. A future-history story covering the years 2257–2262, with each year corresponding to one season, Babylon 5 was the first series to introduce viewers to the concept of a five-year arc, with a defined beginning, middle, and end, paving the way for a number of such later series.
- OOH WEE! Go on an intergalactic adventure across the multi-verse with the epic release of the Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6 boxed set on Blu-ray™ and DVD on September 12, 2023. Get Schwifty while you binge on one of cable’s #1 watched comedies that follows the sci-fi misadventures of genius scientist Rick and his family. Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6 includes all 61 episodes from six seasons of the award-winning series, copious special features, audio commentary, deleted scenes, “Inside the Episode” segments, numerous featurettes, animatic sketches, and more. For a limited time, fans who purchase the set will also receive an exclusive Rick and Morty poster.
- POV, America’s longest running non-fiction series, provides a balanced, in-depth look at Kathryn, a woman paralyzed by late-stage ALS in the wryly moving family portrait, Eat Your Catfish. Reliant on round-the-clock care, she clings to a mordant wit while yearning to witness her daughter's wedding. Narrated by Kathryn and pictured entirely from her point of view, co-directors and producers Adam Isenberg, Senem Tüzen and Noah Amir Arjomand — who is Kathryn's son — deliver a brutally frank and darkly humorous portrait of a family teetering on the brink, grappling with the daily demands of disability and in-home caregiving. Eat Your Catfish makes its national broadcast premiere on POV Monday, July 24, 2023 at 10pmET/9C (check local listings) and will be available to stream at pbs.org, and the PBS App until October 22, 2023. In addition to standard closed captioning for the film, POV, in partnership with audio description service DiCapta, provides real time audio interpretations.
