The Orville Works as both Sci-fi and Comedy

Posted on 09/12/2017 by cy

Seth MacFarlane’s new sci-fi comedy “The Orville” has been described as either an homage or a spoof of Star Trek. However he insists it’s really its own show and although it draws heavily on Star Trek genre it should be considered on its own merits. Having seen the opening episode I think all of the above is true. It is part spoof, part parody, part homage and a legitimate sci-fi adventure in and of itself.

If we set aside the issues of Star Trek connections and just judge it on its own merits as a sci-fi adventure and a comedy I think after one episode I have to say it works on both levels. It really is a decent sci-fi adventure show with a reasonably credible sci-fi plot. It also made me laugh really hard several times even if it is at times over-the-top silly.

MacFarlane plays Capt. Ed Mercer who in the opening of the show finds his wife in bed with a blue skinned alien. We fast-forward one year to find him down on his luck and depressed over the failure of his marriage. However Adm. Halsey played by guest star Victor Garber tells him he’s being given command of a mid-level exploratory shape called the Orville. Apparently there are 3000 ships in the fleet and they are little shorthanded for captains so despite the fact that he’s been a basic screwup over the past year they are giving him a shot at redemption despite his recent troubles.

Unfortunately his dream assignment turns into a nightmare when he finds out that his first officer is going to be his ex-wife Kelly Grayson played by Adrianne Palicki.

His best friend Gordon Malloy played by ER veteran Scott Grimes is going to be his new helmsman who is supposedly the proverbial “best pilot in a galaxy” but is also a ne’er-do-well alcoholic. We are also introduced into a variety of other alien crewmembers such as his petite female security chief Alara Kitan played by Halston Sage whose size hides the fact that she grew up on a planet with much heavier gravity and so exhibits superhuman strength. We also have a Worf-like character named Bortus played by Peter Macon who you might recognize as Dominique’s police officer father from Shameless.

One surprise bit of casting is Penny Johnson Jerald as the ship’s medical officer Dr. Claire Finn. You will remember her as Capt. Gates from the detective/romance show Castle. It’s a little bit hard to imagine her in a comedy but the character she’s playing seems to be very straightlaced so it might work after all. She does however have some genre credit because she played Kasidy Yates on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

As a sci-fi show the opening plot was actually not too bad. Their first mission is a resupply mission the scientific colony but when they arrive they find out that they aren’t really there to resupply but are to guard a new piece of technology that can speed up time. While it has peaceful uses such as making crops grow quicker it can also be used as a weapon by making your enemy age 100 years in a few seconds. The alien enemy race the Krill are after technology. There is an outer space battle and a ground attack that provides lots of action.

The show also works as a comedy mostly by humanizing the crew in ways that traditional Star Trek type shows do not. For example 2 crewmembers meet in a hallway and one of them asks “Do you have a minute we can talk?” And the other replies “I only have a minute… I’m on my way to pee.” It calls to mind the strange fact that after decades worth of Star Trek we’ve never had anyone talk about taking a leak. In another scene the navigator asked the captain if it’s okay for to keep a drink and his console. The captain agrees as long as he keeps his under the desk and doesn’t spill it on anything. Later in the middle of a tense moment we see the navigator sucking on a Slurpie.

The humor isn’t really so much jokes or funny situations as it is breaking your expectations of what a space adventure is like. In another scene the captain needs to stall the attacking alien while they try to repair the ship and so he engages in a debate with his ex-wife/first officer over there marital problems and they asked the alien commander’s advice. It’s all pretty silly but for some reason it works.

Despite what I’ve said about this not being a Star Trek spoof there are plenty of Star Trek influences everywhere. The design of the bridge echoes features of Star Trek: The Next Generation as does the orchestral soundtrack. On the other hand it breaks some Star Trek conventions such as one-shot that shows an extremely long hallway that had to be done with some sort of optical effects. Traditional Star Trek and other sci-fi spaceship based adventures rely on short corridors or curved corridors to minimize the size of the set. So in some ways is not so much what is similar to Star Trek that makes this show interesting. It’s the ways in which it is different. But you have to be a fan of the original to see and appreciate the differences.

They have ordered 13 episodes and I don’t know if there options to extend it to a full season if it’s a hit or if it’s intended from the beginning to be a limited series. Time will tell whether or not the silliness gets to be too silly and whether or not the hard-core sci-fi aspects continue to hold up episode after episode. For now I’m giving it a rating of “I really like it”. I recommend you check it out for yourself. It might provide an alternative to the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery which will only be available through the streaming subscription service CBS All Access. The first episode of The Orville is available on demand. Episode 2 is next Sunday and then it moved to its regular timeslot on Thursday nights beginning September 21.

America Horror Story: Cult Capitalizes On Political Fear

Posted on 09/07/2017 by cy

Normally I only bother to review new series however American Horror Story is an anthology series that reboots itself every season with totally new characters and new situations. It even takes place in different time periods. So in many respects it is a new show each season.

This particular installment for season 7 begins with election night 2016 when Trump was elected president. Considering that as a liberal and Hillary supporter I thought that evening was terrifying enough, I wanted to see what the team from AHS was going to do to capitalize on an already scary situation.

The first three or four seasons of the show I thought were really well done but in recent years I’ve been disappointed. Season 5 titled AHS: Hotel took a very long time to get going. They seemed to go for the shock value of lots of blood and gore for the first three or four episodes before they really got into the character development. Eventually the characters began to reveal themselves with the memorable performances but the overall plot I thought fell very flat.

Last season premiered with great secrecy and hype not revealing the subtitle “My Roanoke Nightmare” until the premier. There were promises that this season was going to tie together all previous seasons. With a few minor exceptions that were references to previous season characters I thought that aspect fell flat. The structure of last season was based on a reality documentary series that recounted the events in a haunted house. The second half of the season was in the form of another reality documentary revisiting the haunted house and re-examining the events from the first half of the season. Overall it was sort of a gimmick season that in some ways was a commentary on fandom of shows like AHS. I sort of liked the gimmick even though it was very gimmicky .

This season is titled AHS: Cult however it’s not really clear yet what the cult aspects of the show will be. Although we do get one very bloody scene near the beginning of the episode, fortunately we do dive right into character development which is where AHS has always been strongest. The opening scenes are of different families witnessing the election results and reacting to them in different ways. On one end of the political spectrum we have Kai Anderson played by AHS veteran Evan Peters. He becomes hysterically giddy with joy over Trump’s election. Throughout the show he reveals himself as an anarchist who sees the election as validation of his radical views. In one scene he goes before the local Town Council to speak against a proposal to allocate police overtime to guard a local Jewish Community Center. He goes into a diatribe about how people love fear and how the Jewish people in particular craved being persecuted. He suggests we allocate no additional resources to their protection because they love to live in fear.

On the other end of the political spectrum we have Ally Mayfair-Richards and her family. She is portrayed by AHS veteran Sarah Paulson. She and her lesbian partner Ivy played by Allison Pill have a 10-year-old son. Ally also becomes hysterical over the election results but out of total abject fear of what it means for her as a lesbian. We later learn however that she also is a deeply disturbed person who is haunted by crippling phobias of clowns, objects with holes in them, and either irrational fears. We learned that the only way she was able to overcome these phobias was through the stable relationship with her partner Ivy. But now that the political climate seems to threaten their way of life, her entire life becomes unhinged. She begins hallucinating that she is being taunted by clowns. But then again is it really hallucination or is it real?

One of the interesting things about this season at least through the first episode is that we have seen nothing that requires a supernatural explanation. The psychotic evil of Evan Peters is all too real. And Ally’s psychosis does not require any supernatural basis. I seriously doubt that the show will avoid dipping into the supernatural considering how heavily it has relied on those themes in the previous six seasons. But I think this would be a much more interesting season if they made it more reality-based. I’ve got my fingers crossed but I’m not holding my breath.

Overall I like the fact that they’ve gone into interesting character development right off the bat and I’m very optimistic this will be an interesting and enjoyable season. For now I’m giving it a very strong rating of “I’m Watching It”

Bates out Roberts in at AHS; Killjoy lives but Dark Matter dies; Letterman and Shonda move to Netflix; and more

Posted on 09/04/2017 by cy

This is going to be a difficult installment to put together because a major computer malfunction caused me to have to reinstall all of my software. For the most part my data was kept intact except when it uninstalled Feed Demon which is my RSS newsreader, it also destroyed all of the previously captured headlines. So I had to go back to my main entertainment website and do it the old-fashioned way and just browse through the articles page by page.

The new fall season kicks off tomorrow with the premier of American Horror Story on FX. Here is a calendar of other premier dates courtesy of TV line.

Fall Premier Calendar from TV Line

In other news I went to see “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” in 3D. I can’t really figure out why it was such a box office flop. It was every bit as visually standing as the previews implied. Lots of really cool looking aliens, state-of-the-art effects, big space battles. Parts of it were a little bit cheesy but you don’t go to one of those kind of movies for a deep plot or Oscar worthy acting. Probably the acting was the only really bad part of the movie. My tradition is to see a film on the second weekend in order to avoid crowds but my friends were unable to take me that weekend so we went the third weekend. By that time it was only showing in two theaters here in Indianapolis and there were very few showings available in 3D. I suppose my biggest disappointment is since it was a box office flap we will not be seeing any sequels.

I also was able to see Dunkirk in IMAX at the Indiana State Museum downtown IMAX screen. See my review in a separate blog post here…

In the Links below read

Three new programs to appear on CBS All Access subscription streaming service

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated August 2

Spoilers from Inside Line dated August 9

Postmortem interview with producers of Orphan Black about series finale. Two articles.

Interview with “Inside the Actors Studio” host James Lipton about his most memorable moments of the show

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated August 23

Also of interest but not linked below…

RIP actor and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Sam Shepard age 73 of ALS

Former Y&R soap opera star Hartley Sawyer will guest star on The Flash as “Elongated Man”.

Kathy Bates will not be in the next season of American Horror Story. You can however see her on the Netflix comedy series “Disjointed” about a woman who runs a legal marijuana dispensary.

Marlee Matlin will join the cast of Quantico playing a former undercover FBI agent who lost her hearing by being too close to a bomb blast.

Carol Burnett will have an unscripted show where she interviews kids on Netflix in 2018

We now know how they are going to explain the exit of Kevin James wife Donna on “Kevin Can Wait”. They’re going to kill her off!

Allison Williams will costar with Benedict Cumberbatch in his upcoming Showtime limited series named “Patrick Melrose”

Emma Roberts is returning to American Horror Story next season

Audra McDonald is joining the cast of The Good Fight for season 2. She had previously guest starred in The Good Wife.

ABC announced the upcoming season 9 on sitcom “The Middle” will be its last premiering October 9.

CW will have a four show superhero crossover event November 27/28 beginning with Supergirl followed by Arrow on the 27th in concluding with The Flash and legends of tomorrow on the 28^th. No plot details available yet.

The reboot of “Will and Grace” will completely the previous series finale in which all four main cast members broke up and went their separate ways. The new revival act like that never happened. The revival has already been renewed for another season even though this one has not yet premiered.

The spinoff from sitcom “black-ish” which will follow the college exploits of their own list daughter has been renamed from “college-ish” to “grown-ish”. It will premiere on the Freeform network formerly known as ABC family network.

The “Divergent” film series is likely to be continued as a TV series for Starz Network.

Sylvester Stallone will play himself in upcoming episodes of This Is Us as Kevin’s war movie costar.

NBC says Celebrity Apprentice will not be returning to the network anytime soon. Last season’s version with Arnold Schwarzenegger had terrible ratings much to Donald Trump’s delight.

NBC is considering a reboot of Miami Vice

There is going to be a book and movie about New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to be titled “12”

There will be a “The Dark Tower” TV series based on the current film and Stephen King novel series.

Bruce Willis will star in a remake of the vigilante film “Death Wish”. The original starred Charles Bronson.

RIP British actor Robert Hardy who was 91. He appeared in Harry Potter movies, “All Creatures Great and Small” and portrayed Winston Churchill in a miniseries.

Netflix has renewed “Anne With an E” for season 2 based on the Anne of Green Gables stories.

“Annihilation” a sequel to “Ex Machina” will hit theaters in February 2018

Rapper Suge Knight have been arraigned for threatening F. Gary Gray the director of “Straight Outta Compton” in a dispute over the film.

ESPN8 was a fictional channel from the comedy film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. However on August 8 ESPN will temporarily transform ESPNU into ESPN8 to play along with the joke.

ABC has canceled its plans for a show “The Little Mermaid Live”

USA Network announced season 3 Mr. Robot will premiere October 11

“This Is Us” has lost one of its 11 Emmy nominations. A nomination for contemporary costumes has been rescinded because too much of the episode in question takes place in flashback and therefore was knocked “contemporary” time period.

RIP Haruo Nakajima who was the actor side the original Godzilla suit. Aged 88 died of pneumonia.

David Letterman is going to do a new interview show with a single guest for Netflix sometime next year.

RIP Glen Campbell aged 81. The singer had been battling Alzheimer’s for many years.

Netflix has renewed “GLOW” comedy series about women’s wrestling for season 2.

Brooke Shields will have a recurring role in the upcoming season of Law & Order: SVU.

Tom Cruise suffered a broken ankle during a stunt on a set of Mission Impossible 6

Producer Shonda Rhimes has signed a deal with Netflix and is leaving her current agreement with ABC Studios

A female stunt driver has died during an accident on the set of Deadpool 2

This summer has been the smallest movie gross sales in 25 years. Strangely no major new movies are being released this Labor Day weekend.

Daniel Craig has confirmed he will be James Bond at least one more time.

This season 7 finale of USA series “Suits” will be a backdoor pilot to a spinoff staring Gina Torres a.k.a. Jessica Pearson. The new series will not be a legal drama that will focus on Chicago politics.

According to Forbes magazine Emma Stone was the highest-paid actress in 2017 followed by Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lawrence.

RIP actor Sonny Landham who played the Native American tracker in the 1987 film Creditor. He was 76 and had congestive heart failure.

Donald Trump will not attend this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. This was actually a classy move. The reason given was they wanted to avoid a distraction for the honorees. Some recipients have already said they will not attend a ceremony at the White House afterwards.

Adam Nimoy son of Leonard Nimoy is engaged to Terry Farrell who played Lieut. Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

RIP comedian and social activist Dick Gregory age 84.

RIP comedian, filmmaker Jerry Lewis 91. Loved his work. Disliked him personally.

Netflix viewership dropped 10% during the solar eclipse.

Morgan Freeman will receive the SAG lifetime achievement award next year

EPIX channel has renewed “Get Shorty” for season 2

Amazon has renewed critically acclaimed “Transparent” for season 5

RIP actor Jay Thomas known for his roles on Cheers and Murphy Brown as well as frequent appearances on David Letterman. He was 69.

Ryan gosling will host the season premiere of SNL September 20 with Jay-Z as musical guest

Bill Nye the Science Guy is suing Disney for $37 million over profits from his series

RIP director Tobe Hooper famous for Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Age 74

RIP actor Richard Anderson known for playing Oscar Goldman on “$6 Million Man” he was 91

HBO announced there will be a “True Detective” season 3

RIP comedian Shelley Berman known as a sitdown comic rather than a standup comic. Age 92. Very funny old school comedian. I was a fan.

Syfy Channel has renewed “Killjoys” for 2 final seasons but has canceled “Dark Matter” and I’m disappointed it’s gone.

RIP Walter Becker founding member of Steely Dan age 67

Three new programs to premiere on CBS All Access subscription streaming service

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated August 2

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Grey’s, Once, Lethal Weapon, Supergirl, The Night Shift, NCIS and More

‘Orphan Black’ Co-Creator Talks Series Finale, Movie Reunion & #Clone Club

Orphan Black EPs Talk ‘Quieter’ Series Finale, Helena’s Birth Scene, [Spoiler]’s Unhappy Ending and Movie Hopes

‘Inside The Actors Studio’ Host James Lipton On His Most Memorable Moments During The Show’s Two Decade-Plus Run

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on The Flash, Grey’s Anatomy, This Is Us, Scandal, Supernatural, Lucifer, Chi Fire and More

“Dunkirk” is Definitely a Must See in Theater Film

Posted on 08/01/2017 by cy

Sometimes when you see a spectacular movie trailer you really wonder if the film itself is going to meet expectations. In the case of “Dunkirk” when you see the spectacular trailer and learn that the film was directed by Christopher Nolan it’s much easier to believe it’s going to be something special. Nolan has proven himself capable of managing huge spectacles with lots of action and special effects. He’s responsible for the Dark Knight Batman trilogy and sci-fi blockbusters Inception and Interstellar. So I was expecting to be wowed.

“Dunkirk” Official Main Trailer

Additional trailers and related videos at the end of this blog

One of the things I like about Nolan is that he often films major action sequences using actual IMAX cameras rather than using traditional cameras. Many IMAX films these days are shot on 35mm or digital and then converted to IMAX in postprocessing. I have read reviews that said be sure to see it in the 70 mm film version rather than the digital version or even digital IMAX. I’m not a film purist who religiously presumes that celluloid is better than digital. I happen to like digital films. But I do appreciate there is something special about 70 mm film.

The IMAX Theatre at the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis has been showing “Dunkirk” in 70 mm film IMAX and so I decided that would be the best place to see it. I used to be a frequent patron of that facility when it was the only IMAX in town. But recently I’ve been enjoying the slightly smaller digital IMAX theaters at Traders Point and South Meridian. I thought it was great that IMAX was becoming more widespread and even though these venues are not as large as the downtown IMAX, I still very much enjoy their showings. Some people refer to these multiplex IMAX theaters as Lie-MAX and are not true IMAX. But I’ve never felt cheated by watching films there. The slightly smaller screen doesn’t bother me because it still is bigger than the average multiplex screen. The sound isn’t quite as powerful as the downtown IMAX but it’s still pretty good.

This afternoon I went to the downtown IMAX and had my eyes maxed and my ears maxed as well watching “Dunkirk”. It is everything that I hoped it would be and more. By my estimate perhaps three fourths of the film was in full-screen IMAX with only smaller sequences shot in a traditional widescreen format with letterbox black bars above and below. The phenomenal sound system was even better than I had remembered. As I mentioned earlier the sound system is my only complaint about the smaller IMAX theaters. You actually feel the explosions in your bones yet it’s not so loud that it hurts your ears. One of the IMAX marketing catchphrases is “See a movie… Or become part of one” and you really do feel like you are there on the beach or in the aircraft or on the ships in Dunkirk.

If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s the true story of 400,000 British and French troops with their backs against this sea in Dunkirk France surrounded on all sides by the Nazis. Because the landing area is so shallow they could only exit on a long pier that extends into deep water. German aircraft routinely strafe and bomb the defenseless troops. The British government put out a call to all private boats in the area to assist with the evacuation.

The story is told through the eyes of three groups of people spread over three overlapping time periods. We start with a British soldier who is the only survivor of his squad as they make their way through the city to the beach. We follow his attempts to try to get onto a boat. Along the way he joins up with another soldier and they try to make their way to the head of the queue by volunteering as stretcher bearers to carry the wounded onto a hospital ship. Without spoiling the plot too much, I can say that their strategy is unsuccessful and they make several other attempts to leave the beach throughout the film. Also on the beach we have a British naval commander played by Kenneth Branagh and his officers who are overseeing the evacuation. He’s faced with such difficult decisions such as suggesting that we reconsider giving priority to the wounded because you can have seven men standing in the same area occupied by one stretcher.

We also witness the battle through the eyes of a trio of British Spitfire fighter pilots patrolling the area desperately trying to protect the troops and the ships.

Much of the story however from the perspective of Mr. Dawson, a charter boat captain with two young crewmembers who are among the armada of civilian ships participating in the evacuation.

Each of these three stories makes the overall spectacle very personal for the audience. By telling each of their individual struggles it makes the broader spectacle even more real.

Nolan likes to play with time in his storytelling. The events on the beach take place over the course of one week. The events on the charter boat take place over one day. And the battle in the skies takes place over the course of one hour. The events all come together in a sequence where the fighter pilots are trying to shoot down a German bomber as it is attempting to sink a minesweeper ship full of evacuating soldiers. Nearby soldiers are aboard a sinking fishing trawler that has been shot up by the Germans. And the charter boat is trying to rescue men in the water. You see these events repeated several times from the perspective of each group.

There are extremely few quiet moments in the film. It’s pretty much wall-to-wall action and when there isn’t any action you can feel the tension and the sense of peril that all of the participants are facing. How can I get on a ship? When will the next wave of Nazi aircraft attack? Do I have enough fuel to make it home?

The bottom line for me is this may be the best war movie I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s every bit as realistic as “Saving Private Ryan” and although it pulls no punches with the violence of war, it gracefully spares us some of the gore that made parts of Ryan sometimes too difficult to watch.

You definitely need to see this movie in the theater. If you can, see it in IMAX. And better yet see it in the 70 mm film IMAX at the Indiana State Museum or any other 70 mm venue if you’re not in the Indianapolis area.

Other Trailers

Lois Lane is Supergirl’s mother; twins leave Quantico; Lady Doctor announced; Picasso is new Genius; Living Dead Dies; Potts is Meemaw and more

Posted on 07/24/2017 by cy

We start off this installment of entertainment news with a couple of film recommendations. Every good thing you heard about the new Wonder Woman movie is true. It’s a really fun ride. I especially liked that some of the action sequences shift into slow motion. There are so many fight scenes and action sequences that happen so fast these days that you can’t really tell what’s going on. I always presume it was to save special-effects budgets so you don’t notice how fake it really is. But by shifting to slow-motion you get to see lots of detail and I went to a lot of effort to make some of the stunts especially spectacular.

I also saw that in Spider-Man Homecoming. Also a great ride. Michael Keaton makes a great bad guy. The Tony Stark created Spider-Man costume has some nice cool features. There is a huge plot twist that nobody saw coming about three force of the way through the movie. That added some extra fun to the whole experience.

Highly recommend both movies. It’s probably too late to see them in 3D but if by some chance you can then I recommend both in 3D.

I’m finally getting caught up on leftover episodes from the previous TV season and starting to dive into some binge watching of some more recent premieres. I’m three episodes into the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Very much well worth it. Although I may have some extended comments about the series after I finish it off. Probably a blog post all on its own. Also I’m one episode into “American Gods” on Starz network. It was developed for television by Brian Fuller who most recently brought us the TV series Hannibal. It’s based on a fantasy novel by acclaimed author Neil Gaiman. Lots of sex, violence, and bizarre imagery. Definitely worth checking out. I’ve not read the book but I’ve heard it follows the story pretty closely. A definite must see if you’re a fan of Ian McShane. I can’t wait to get through the remaining seven episodes. I’m pleased to report both Gods and Handmaid’s have been renewed for second seasons.

In the links below read…

Article about a possible revival of JJ Abrams spy/sci-fi show “Alias”

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated June 16

Postmortem interview of EP’s of American Gods about season finale and upcoming next season

Postmortem interview of EP’s of The Leftovers about series finale

Spoilers from Inside Line dated June 29

TV Line guide to over 100 casting changes in existing TV series.

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated July 12

Not in the links below but also of interest…

This most current season of Fargo may be the last according to executive producer.

Damon Gupton is leaving Criminal Minds after one season.

BBC America announced there will be a season 5 of Luther with Idris Elba. It will be for episodes. And we are very happy

Yasmine Al Massri who plays twin FBI agents on Quantico will not be returning for season 3. Also the show is getting a new show runner

Jason O’Mara who recently played SHIELD director “The Patriot” is joining the cast of Amazon series “The Man in the High Castle”.

NBC delayed an episode of “The Carmichael Show” in which the plot included a shooting at a mall. This was in the wake of the Virginia baseball diamond shooting of a congressman. The star of the show Jared Carmichael was not supportive of the decision to pull the episode.

NBC Universal is opening a new cable channel called the Olympic channel

RIP British actor Sam Beazley who played Prof. Edvard in the Harry Potter movies. He was 101

RIP director John Avildsen director of Rocky and The Karate Kid at age 81

RIP actor Stephen Furst known for Animal House and St. Elsewhere age 63 due to complications of diabetes

New TV series Star Trek: Discovery will premiere September 24 at 8:30 PM on CBS and future episodes streaming only on CBS All Access

Corner reveals Carrie Fisher had cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy in her system upon death

CBS has renewed its entire daytime lineup to at least 2018 with Young and the restless renewed at least until 2020

Former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat is developing a new Dracula TV series

The topic of season 2 of National Geographic’s series “Genius” will be Pablo Picasso

The science channel will broadcast a live special on August 21 covering the total solar eclipse what will cross the US on that day

After the original directors of the new Han Solo movie leftover creative differences, Ron Howard has been confirmed to take over the project. We are very excited.

HBO’s John Oliver has been sued by a coal mine owner after the comedian ridiculed there CEO as a type of “geriatric Dr. Evil”

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will hit theaters June 22, 2018

Alec Baldwin has confirmed he will return to SNL to play Donald Trump next season

The final season of Halt and Catch Fire will premiere August 19

Better Call Saul has been renewed for season 4 by AMC

Netflix announced canceled series “Sense8” will return for a two hour movie to wrap up plot lines

Warner Bros. is developing a live-action film based on the animated series The Jetsons

NBC has announced World of Dance has been renewed for season 2. I was pretty impressed with season 1.

Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim are leaving Hawaii 50. Reports are they are upset they are making less than their non-Asian counterparts on the show.

NBC has canceled The Carmichael Show

Comic Con International has signed with the city of San Diego to continue the convention through 2021

The pilot for Sons Of Anarchy spinoff show Mayans MC is being recast and reshot.

RIP Joan Lee wife of Marvel comics creator Stan Lee age 93

Supergirl has recast Erica Durance to play Kara’s kryptonian mother Aluraa Zor-El replacing Laura Benanti who cannot continue due to scheduling conflicts. Durance previously played Lois Lane in Smallville.

RIP Nelsana Ellis who played Lafayette Reynolds on HBO’s True Blood. He was 39. Complications of heart failure

Dancing with the Stars pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maksima Chmertovskity got married recently. They have a son together.

Curb Your Enthusiasm will return to HBO October 1

Steve Whitmire who has given voice to Kermit the Frog ever since the death of Jim Henson has been replaced by Matt Vogel. Much controversy about the reasons but no solid information available.

Netflix announced Stranger Things season 2 will premiere October 27

Starz announced season 3 of Outlander will premiere September 10 and we can hardly wait

Lucy Liu a.k.a. Joan Watson on Elementary will direct the season 2 premiere of Luke Cage for Netflix

TNT has renewed new series Claws for season 2 just halfway through the first season.

Game show Beat Shazam has been renewed for season 2 by Fox

Production was shut down for five days on The Walking Dead after stuntman died after a 20 foot fall. He hit concrete headfirst. Season 8 will return October 22.

Fear The Walking Dead will return from its midseason break September 10

David Strathairn has been cast in a recurring role in the new season of The Expanse

The 13th Doctor Who will be a woman played by British actress Jodi Whitaker. She is known for her work in Broadchurch among other things.

RIP George A. Romero director of “Night of the Living Dead” age 77. Or is he really dead? 🙂

RIP Martin Landau from Mission Impossible and Space 1999 age 89

Annie Potts is joining in the Big Bang Theory spinoff series “Young Sheldon” as Sheldon’s grandmother a.k.a. Meemaw

@midnight with Chris Hardwick is calling it quits after 600 episodes. Will end August 4

Despite mediocre ratings from Candy Crush TV show there now working on a Words with Friends game show

Warner Bros. is planning yet another remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Lena Dunham is joining the cast of American Horror Story season 7

It’s official Ryan Seacrest will host American Idol when it returns on its new network ABC in the spring of 2018. He will continue on Kelly & Ryan morning talk show.

CW vampire series The Originals will end after season 5

Jimmy Smits will have a major recurring role in How to Get Away with Murder next season

David Cronenberg novel “Consumed” will be a TV series on AMC produced by Fear The Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson and Lucifer executive producer Sheri Ellwood.

Season 7 of American Horror Story will be titled “Cult” premiere September 5

RIP Former Doctor Who companion Deborah Watling who played Victoria Waterford opposite Patrick Troughton age 69

Kevin Spacey will play Gore Vidal in a Netflix biopic

Netflix has renewed Iron Fist for season 2. Also The Punisher getting his own series on Netflix with Jon Bernthal returning as Frank Castle which he portrayed in season 2 of Daredevil

RIP Actor John Heard who played the father in the Home Alone movies. Age 72

Calista Flockhart will appear in the season 3 premiere of Supergirl

Ben Affleck has confirmed he will continue doing Batman in DC films despite rumors he’s quitting

Former Clark Kent from Smallville Tom Welling is joining the cast of Lucifer season 3

Syfy Channel has renewed Wynonna Earp for season 3

Wentworth Miller, Arthur Darville and Neil McDonough will continue to apply recurring roles in Legends of Tomorrow

Samuel L Jackson will play Nick Fury in an upcoming Capt. Marvel film. Will have both eyes! Set in the 1990s.

Former Lost star Elizabeth Mitchell will have a recurring role in upcoming season The Expanse on Syfy Channel

‘Alias’ Writers On How J.J. Abrams Tore Up TV Conventions & Possible Revival –ATX

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Quantico, Psych, Stranger Things, Fear TWD, Fargo, Supernatural and More

American Gods Finale: Bryan Fuller and Michael Green Talk Bunnies, Bilquis and Wednesday’s Big Reveal

‘The Leftovers’ Creators Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta On Their Story Of Survivors

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on The Flash, Once, Lucifer, The Strain, Blindspot, Orphan Black, This Is Us and More!

Fall TV Preview: Who’s In? Who’s Out? Your Guide to 100+ Casting Moves!

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Arrow, Goldbergs, Superstore, Roseanne, Originals — Plus, Blind Item Hint!

Entertainment News: Lots of renewals and cancellations

Posted on 06/10/2017 by cy

This installment of my entertainment blog probably would’ve been posted much sooner but the entire cyborg5.com was off-line for over a week because it got hacked and it was sending out massive amounts of spam. Took me a while to get it cleaned up and get everything in shipshape.

A number of movies to talk about. First of all “Logan” was a very satisfying end to the X-Men Wolverine saga. I’ve warned a number of parents that it most definitely earns its R rating for extreme violence some of which perpetrated by a young girl. Would be very disturbing to children and even some adults. Still it was an excellent film with a great story and a lot of heart. Basically it’s a remake of the classic Western “Shane” and doesn’t make any bones about it as some of the characters watch the film during the movie and later quote dialogue from it. Everyone who says it’s not your typical comic book hero movie is absolutely correct. We will have to wait and see if it starts a new trend. I guess is we will continue to see the typical heavy action blockbuster comic book movies that we’ve been seeing for quite some time.

Speaking of which we also saw Wonder Woman. I don’t really care about the politics of having a female superhero lead or the fact that it was the first film ever directed by a woman to reach $100 million the first week. The real test is wasn’t a fun movie and the answer is most definitely yes. I especially liked when the fight sequences which shift into slow-motion. So many fight sequences or action scenes these days happens so fast you can’t tell what is really going on (cough Transformers). One interesting thing is that the story is completely self-contained. You don’t have to have seen Wonder Woman’s appearance in Batman versus Superman and you don’t really get any clue as to what her role will be in future DC comic films. Some people think that’s a negative but I think it’s a plus.

Case in point I pretty much decided I don’t need to see the next Thor movie in the Marvel universe or at least I will wait for cable. With upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming and the Infinity Wars series coming soon there is a risk were getting a little bit of Marvel overload.

That doesn’t mean I’m mad at Marvel in any way. I absolutely loved Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Not only did it have all of the silly comedy and all of the over-the-top action that we expect from a Guardians movie, it also had a tremendous amount of heart. The 80s music soundtrack is that just something thrown in as an afterthought. The playing of Cat Stevens’”Father And Son” often can bring me to tears for no good reason. Put it over the sad ending of a movie and I spent lots of time blinking hard to keep my face dry. It actually moves the story forward. Michael Rooker gives the wonderful performance as StarLord’s adoptive father Yandu and really steals the show in many ways. Kurt Russell was fun as is biological father.

Most of the items below are about renewals and cancellations. As always we refer you to TV Line’s renewal scorecards to look up the fate of your favorite shows. Also a calendar of season finale’s and summer premieres. And a sneak peek at the fall TV schedule.

TV Line Broadcast Series Renewal Scorecard

TV Line Streaming and Cable Series Renewal Scorecard

TV Line Summer Finale and Premiere Dates

TV Line Fall 2017 schedule (subject to change)

In the links below read

Spoilers from Inside line dated May 9

Syfy Channel unveils new logo, expanding news division, and new series coming

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated May 24

Postmortem interviews about series finale of HBO’s “The Leftovers”

Another post one interview about “The Leftovers”

Interview with “Fear the Walking Dead” showrunner about surprise death of major character

Spoilers from Inside Line dated June 8

Not linked below but also of interest…

The Handmaid’s Tale has been renewed for season 2 by Hulu

Marvel’s Runaways will be a new series on Hulu. Their first venture into the Marvel universe

Hulu has also ordered a series tentatively titled “The First” about the first mission to Mars

Alanis Morrissette’s manager sentenced to six years in prison after stealing $7 million from her and other clients.

HBO has hired 4 writers to develop spinoff series for Game of Thrones

PBS and Masterpiece are developing a miniseries Little Women based on the book by Louisa May Alcott

NBC has canceled its remade Wizard of Oz series “Emerald City” after one season

Netflix has ordered season 2 for its controversy of series about suicide “13 Reasons Why”

RIP Robert Wilson pioneer of public television and Father of Luke and Owen Wilson age 75

Jennifer Morrison a.k.a. Emma Swan is not returning to Once Upon A Time next season but may return as a guest star

NBC announced Will & Grace will return this fall

CW network has canceled Frequency and No Tomorrow after one season

USA Network is announced a holiday reunion movie for Psych with original cast returning

Cliff Curtis recently exited from Fear the Walking Dead will have a lead role in all four Avatar sequels

ABC announced it is bringing back American Idol after outbidding Fox to revive the show. No word on judges yet but Ryan Seacrest is widely expected to return as host. Even at its lowest rated season at Fox that would make it the number 2 show at ABC in ratings so they are excited to bring it back. Probably on Sunday nights. Late update Katy Perry will be a judge. Simon Cowell is definitely out. He was asked to return and refused.

Fox has canceled its crime drama Rosewood after 2 see nuns

FX announced The Strain quote will return for its fourth and final season on Sunday, July 16

DIY network announced Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife Amy will host the home improvement series. Earnhardt has announced he is leaving NASCAR at the end of the season. The show will premiere in 2018.

NBC has renewed Taken for season 2 despite mediocre ratings.

Fox has ordered to series Marvel mutant story “The Gifted”

Fox has finally canceled Sleepy Hollow. After 4 seasons. Some say that was 2 seasons overdue 🙂

After a Netflix film competed for the Cannes Film Festival awards, rules have been changed that only films with theatrical release will be considered

There will be an animated Marvel Deadpool series coming to FXX in 2018 for 10 episodes.

NBC has announced it will produce a live version of Jesus Christ superstar next Easter. No casting announced yet. We can’t wait.

RIP character actor Michael Parks who appeared in Kill Bill and Argo age 77

NBC canceled time travel series Timeless and then changed its mind and renewed it. Rumors are time travel because the reversal.

ABC has renewed Modern Family for seasons 9 and 10

ABC cancels Tim Allen comedy Last Man Standing. After six seasons despite decent ratings. Rumors are Allen’s support of Trump was the reason.

NBC has renewed Chicago Fire and Chicago Med but has canceled Chicago Justice

CW network as renewed The Originals for season 5 and iZombie season 4

Fox has renewed Gotham and The Last Man on Earth

Fantasy drama The Shannara Chronicles season 2 is moving from MTV to Spike TV

NBC has renewed The Blacklist for season 5

Syfy Channel analysis Superman prequel titled “Krypton” and adaptation of George RR Martin novel “Night Flyers”

Starz has renewed “American Gods” for season 2

ABC has renewed sitcom The Goldbergs for season 5 and 6

NBC has renewed Tina Fey produced sitcom “Great News” for season 2

Jennifer Hudson is joining The Voice as season 13 coach

Kelly Clarkson is joining The Voice as season 14 coach

ABC has canceled American Crimes after 3 seasons

ABC has canceled Secrets and Lies and Dr. Ken

Agents of SHIELD and Designated Survivor and American Housewife have been renewed by ABC

ABC has canceled The Real O’Neill’s and The Catch. I really liked The Catch. Sort of a cross between the old USA Network “White Collar” and a romantic comedy.

ABC has renewed black-ish for season 4. I really like it.

NBC has canceled superhero spoof comedy Powerless without airing the final three episodes

ABC renews Shark Tank, Dancing With The Stars and The Bachelor

Rebecca Mader a.k.a. Zelena The Wicked Witch will not return to Once Upon A Time next season

NBC has canceled The Blacklist Redemption spinoff from The Blacklist after 1 season

ABC has renewed Speechless for season 2. About a family with a teenage son in a wheelchair. Excellent show.

Fox is announced it’s next live musical will be “Rent”

Fox has renewed its series version of “the Exorcist” for season 2

NBC has renewed Law & Order SVU for season 19

CBS has canceled “2 Broke Girls”. It was ridiculous but it was a guilty pleasure of mine. I will miss it.

Emiliea De Ravin a.k.a. Belle will not return to Once Upon A Time

CBS has canceled comedy The Great Indoors after 1 season

CBS has renewed Elementary and there will be a season 30 for The Amazing Race

Fox has renewed New Girl for seventh final season

CBS has renewed Code Black for season 3

RIP actor Powers Boothe best known as Cy Tolliver on Deadwood aged 68 natural causes

CBS has canceled Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders

Fox has canceled Scream Queens

CBS has canceled The Odd Couple after 3 seasons

ABC has renewed Quantico for season 3

Jimmy Kimmel will host the 2018 Oscars

David Letterman will get the Mark Twain prize for American comedy

ABC has ordered a spinoff series from Grey’s Anatomy about Seattle firefighters

ABC is joining the live musical phenomenon with a live-action Little Mermaid

Conan O’Brien has renewed his deal with TBS for 4 years

CBS has canceled Training Day and Ransom

Dennis Quaid will play George W. Bush in FX series “Katrina: American Crime Story”

James Cordon will again host the Grammys in 2018

Sasheer Zamata, Bobby Moynahan and Vanessa Bayer are leaving the cast of Saturday Night Live

RIP former chairman and CEO of Fox news Roger Ailes age 77

CW network will have a new low for series DC superhero crossover in December

Netflix has ordered 10 episodes of a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal

The spinoff series from Black-ish about the teenage daughter going to college have been picked up for 13 episodes on Free-form network

NBC has renewed comedy Trial and Error but it will likely have a different cast

Zach Snyder and producer wife Deborah Snyder have stepped down from the “Justice League” film after the death of their 20-year-old daughter. Josh Whedon will take over postproduction and oversee a few reshoot scenes. Since he will not change Snyder’s original vision for the film.

RIP former James Bond Roger Moore at age 89

NBC was the top-rated network for 2016-2017 in the 18 to 49 age group despite not having a Super Bowl or an Olympics year. However CBS had most viewers overall.

Tom Cruise confirms a Top Gun sequel is definitely happening. We’ll begin filming “in the next year”

TNT has announced The Last Ship will premiere August 20. Production was delayed when star Eric Dane needed time off to battle depression.

BBC America announced David Tennant crime drama “Broadchurch” third and final season will debut June 28. Very good show.

NBC has canceled its plans for live musical “Bye-Bye Birdie”

RIP former Dallas actor Jared Martin age 75

WGN America has canceled all of its scripted series including Underground and The Outsiders

Cinemax has canceled Quarry about a returning Vietnam veteran turned hitman. Creators unable to find new network.

RIP former Bond Girl Molly Peters who appeared in Thunderball age 75

Netflix has canceled sci-fi drama Sense8 after 2 seasons

Syfy Channel announced Sharknado 5 will air August 6

National Geographic channel is dropping its plans to adapt Bill O’Reilly’s book “Killing Patton”

Kevin James reunites with his former TV wife as Leah Remini becomes a series regular for season 2 of Kevin Can Wait. Meanwhile his current TV wife Erinn Hayes is leaving the show.

Al Pacino will play coach Joe Paterno in HBO film about the Penn State scandal, Barry Levinson will direct

Cher has confirmed there will be a musical about her life to premiere on Broadway and 2018

Fox has canceled 24: Legacy but keeps open the possibility of yet another 24 like series

Jennifer Esposito is leaving NCIS

RIP Adam West who played Batman on TV. He was 88

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Once, Chicago Fire, Elementary, Blindspot, The Flash, NCIS and More!

Syfy Gets New Look & Logo, Expands News Division Ahead of 25th Anniversary

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Supergirl, Scorpion, Lucifer, Younger, Will & Grace, New Girl, Bloodline, Arrow and More

The Leftovers Finale: Damon Lindelof Answers Almost All Of Our Burning Qs

‘The Leftovers’ Finale: Damon Lindelof & Justin Theroux On What It All Means, ‘Lost’s Legacy & Their Arranged Marriage

Fear TWD Showrunner Breaks Down [Spoiler]’s ‘Inevitable’ Demise and Previews the ‘Reckoning Coming’

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Five-0, Killjoys, Arrow, Designated Survivor, Zoo, Stranger Things, Riverdale and More

My first entertainment news blog since late August 2016. Sad attempts to catch up.

Posted on 05/03/2017 by cy

The last time I posted anything in my entertainment blog was a review on October 30, 2016 and the last time I posted one of my lengthy entertainment news updates was way back on August 30, 2016. Since then I’ve spent a month the hospital and tried to put my life back together after that ordeal. I’ve been working day and night on assistive technology projects for myself and for my partners at Adafruit.com. And I’ve been busy trying to catch up on watching TV shows that I missed during all that time. On my bedroom DVR I’m currently about 10 or 11 weeks behind schedule and on my living room DVR I’m about five weeks behind.

It took me several days to go through all of my RSS feeds which only dated back to sometime in mid to late November. A lot of these items are out of chronological order and it wouldn’t be surprised to find out I actually reported something twice in this list. The so-called “spoilers” are probably way out of date but I put them in any way in case there’s some good tidbits that you missed.

Sadly a huge percentage of the items below are obituaries of various celebrities that have died in the past five or six months.

Now that life is somewhat approaching normal I will try to get back to doing one of these every three or four weeks so that the “news” is little more timely.

Lots of the news below is about series being canceled or renewed. As always we refer you to TV line keeps an excellent list of what has been renewed and what hasn’t. Here are some links you can check out to see what your favorite shows are doing or not doing.

Primetime broadcast networks renewals and cancellations

http://tvline.com/2016/10/03/renewed-tv-shows-2017-renewal-scorecard-cancelled-series/

Cable channel renewals and cancellations

http://tvline.com/2015/12/28/cable-tv-shows-renewed-cancelled-2016/

Calendar of season finale’s

http://tvline.com/2017/04/28/tv-schedule-2017-may-finale-dates-calendar-sweeps-upfronts/

In the links below read…

Spoilers from Inside Line dated January 9

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated January 20

Spoilers from Inside Line dated January 31

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated February 9

Spoilers from Inside Line dated February 17

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated February 28

Interesting article about “Logan” connection to “Shane” and Johnny Cash

Spoilers from Inside Line dated March 14

Michael Ausiello previews deaths, weddings, firings, sex, weddings, resurrections, and Time jumps for the May sweeps.

Spoilers from Inside Line dated March 30

Postmortem interview with executive producer of Grimm about series finale

Postmortem interview with executive producer Gail Anne Hurd of Walking Dead about season finale and other topics

Postmortem interview with other Walking Dead executive producer Scott Gimpel.

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated April 6

Spoilers from Inside Line dated April 17

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated April 26

Not linked but also of interest…

Netflix announced season 5 of “Hours of Cards” premieres May 30

NBC is going to reboot supernatural show Witchblade

In the case you haven’t heard… Star Wars 8 will be titled “The Last Jedi”

Kristin Wiig has/will joined the cast of The Last Man on Earth in a recurring role.

Stephen Colbert will host the 2017 Emmy awards

TNT has renewed The Librarians for season 4.

RIP Mary Tyler Moore age 80

RIP Mannix star Mike Connors age 91

NBC is canceling the third hour of the today show to make room for Megyn Kelly

Amazon Studios announced that Mozart in the Jungle is renewed for season 4

So You Think You Can Dance has been renewed for season 14

One of my guilty pleasures The Good Place has been renewed for season 2

A new Marvel series “Cloak and Dagger” will premiere on Freeform network

Peter Capaldi is leaving Doctor Who sometime in season 10 probably the end.

Ben Affleck will not be directing his solo Batman movie

Oprah Winfrey is joining 60 minutes as a special contributor

Tamrona Hall his leading NBC news

There will be a Sharknado 5 made for Syfy Channel

Kevin Sorbo a.k.a. Hercules and Andromeda Capt. Dylan Hunt will have a recurring role as a bad guy on Supergirl

Netflix announced season 2 of Stranger Things will premiere Halloween 2017

NBC has considering a 30 minute primetime weekly special based on Saturday Night Live’s weekend update

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has added the words “binge-watch”. So that’s a real thing now.

The final season of Orphan Black premieres June 10

RIP Richard Hatch who played Capt. Apollo on the original 70s version of Battle Star Galactica, age 71

Bill Nye as a new series on Netflix that premiered this week

Netflix announced Oranges the New Black season 5 will premiere June 9

Bob Costas has stepped down as the host of NBC’s Olympic coverage.

Rumor has it American Idol may return to TV this time on NBC

Saturday Night Live ratings are up 50% over previous year in the highest in six years no doubt thanks to Alec Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy impressions of Trump and Spicer

RIP singer Ala Jarreau age 76

Lucifer has been renewed for season 3 at Fox and we are very well pleased

Edward James Olmos will star in Sons of Anarchy spinoff series about the Mayans MC

NBC announced Superstore has been renewed for season 3

Tangled: The Series has been renewed for season 2 at Disney Channel

Starz announced that season 3 of Outlander will premiere in September

Amazon has renewed legal drama Goliath for season 2

American Horror Story season 7 will be about the 2016 election. As if that isn’t scary enough to begin with.

Star Wars episode VIII The Last Jedi will premiere December 18, 2017

Sir Patrick Stewart will provide the voice for the poop emoji in the upcoming animated “The Emoji Movie” released August 4

Former Partridge Family star David Cassidy announced he suffers from dementia

JJ Abrams is producing a 10 episode series for Hulu based on Stephen King’s Castle Rock

NBC has renewed soap opera Days of Our Lives for its 52nd season.

Fox announced TV series Lethal Weapon has been renewed for season 2

Fox announced Star will return for season 2

History Channel announced “Six” about Seal Team Six has been renewed for season 2

“Doubt” a legal drama starring Katherine Heigl after just 2 episodes

RIP actor Bill Paxton dead at 61

RIP Game of thrones actor Neil Fingleton age 36 who played Mag the Mighty. At 7 foot 7 inches he was the tallest British-born person.

RIP Judge Joseph Wapner of The People’s Court age 97

Benedict Cumberbatch will star in a five episode miniseries for Show turning called Melrose about a self-destructive Playboy

Former Hell on Wheels star Anson Mount will start in a new Marvel Inhumans series for ABC

Emillia Clark the Dragon Queen from Game of Thrones will be in the upcoming Han Solo spinoff movie

Discovery Channel Pumpkin Chucking has been canceled after 2 people were seriously injured in an accident when a cannon exploded.

RIP Barney Miller star Rona Glass age 71

Lucasfilm has confirmed there will be no Star Wars Rogue One sequel. I thought there already was. It’s called Star Wars IV: A New Hope the original Star Wars movie.

RIP producer Grant Tinker of Mary Tyler Moore show and others age 90

Showtime has canceled Masters of Sex after 4 seasons. Probably 2 seasons too late 🙂

Happy birthday to Kirk Douglas age 100!

Rami Malek from Mr. Robot will play Freddie Mercury an upcoming film directed by Bryan Singer

Rumors are CBS is developing a Big Bang Theory prequel titled “Sheldon” about a young Sheldon Cooper

RIP the original Man from Uncle Robert Vaughn age 83 of leukemia

HBO renewed Westworld, Divorce, and Insecure. Westworld will not return however until 2018

RIP PBS journalist Gwen Ifill after a long battle with cancer

Duck Dynasty has been canceled by A&E after five years and 130 episodes

RIP actress Zsa Zsaa Gabor age 99

Dick Van Dyke will appear in the upcoming Disney sequel to Mary Poppins

RIP actor Alan Thicke

Netflix has renewed Fuller House for season 3

RIP Bob start George Michael age 15.

RIP Carrie Fisher age 60

RIP Debbie Reynolds age 84

RIP William Christopher who played Fr. Mulcahy on MASH age 84

Amazon has renewed “The Man in the High Castle” for season 3

CW network has renewed The Flash, Supernatural, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Jane the Virgin

Showtime has rendered The Affair for season 4

Showtime announced the new seasons of Twin Peaks will premiere May 21

Fox has renewed Empire for season 4

FX has renewed American Horror Story four seasons 7, 8, and 9

RIP William Peter Blatty author of “The Exorcist” novel age 89

Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent a.k.a. Prof.Slughorn in the Harry Potter movies is joining the cast of Game of Thrones for season 7

The home used as Harry Potter’s home with his aunt and uncle Dursley is up for sale. Only $600,000.

There will be a total of five “Fantastic Beasts” movies spinoff from the Harry Potter series

Mel Gibson is filming a sequel to “The Passion of the Christ” to be titled “The Resurrection”

Director Rick Famuyiwa is the second director to drop out of the upcoming DC film “The Flash”. Left over creative differences. Film slated for late 2018 release.

Netflix announced Longmire will have a sixth and final season.

The Simpsons has been renewed for season 29 and 30 which will make it the longest running scripted TV series in history passing Gunsmoke who had 635 episodes. The Simpsons has already passed 600.

Dakota Fanning has joined the cast of TNT Gilded Age thriller series “The Alienist”

TNT announced Good Behavior has been renewed for season 2. If you’ve not seen this, definitely check out season 1 on demand or streaming if you can find it. Excellent series!

Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” is moving to Netflix. Was previously available on Crackle.

NBC has ordered a 10 episode revival of “Will and Grace” to air sometime during the 2017-2018 season. All four of the main stars will return.

Star Trek: Discovery casts former True Blood bad guy James Frain as Spock’s father Sarek. However the series is been delayed again and there is no set’s premiere date.

TNT has renewed Major Crimes for season 6

Hit family drama “This Is Us” as been renewed for seasons 2 and 3 by NBC. Excellent show.

Amazon has renewed Sneaky Pete for season 2. Stars Giovanni Ribrisi as a con man.

RIP actor Miguel Ferrer who played on Crossing Jordan and NCIS: Los Angeles. Age 61

Season 5 of House of Cards will premiere May 30

Netflix reboot of the sitcom “One Day at a Time” has been renewed for 13 episode season 2

RIP Robert Osborne host of Turner Classic Movies age 84

SNL regular Pete Davison admitted he’s been missing from the show lately because of a battle with drinking and alcohol.

CW has renewed Riverdale for season 2.

Showtime financial drama Billions renewed for season 3 and I’m very happy. I really love this show.

Reduction is underway on Drastic World 2

Sean Austin will play Teddy Roosevelt in upcoming TNT drama “The Alienist”

AMC announced Preacher season 2 will premiere June 19

CW network announced “The 100” has been renewed for season 5

James Cameron announced Avatar 2 delayed again. Will not premiere in 2018. Late word is the four sequels will premiere in December 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. That I should live so long.

Mr. robot Season three will not premiere until October which means it will not be eligible for 2018 Emmy award.

StarTalk with Neil Degrasse Tyson has been renewed for 20 episodes of season 3

Tyra Banks is replacing Nick Cannon as the host of America’s Got Talent

Syfy Channel has renewed “The Expanse” for season 3 and we are very well pleased.

Warner Bros. has announced Aquaman has been pushed from October 2018 until December 2018 a slot previously held by Avatar 2 which was delayed.

NBC announced Shades of Blue cop drama starring Jennifer Lopez has been renewed for season 3

RIP rock ‘n’ roll star Chuck Berry age 90

Big Bang Theory has been renewed for seasons 11 and 1248 episodes total

Robert Downey Jr. will play Dr. Doolittle in upcoming films

Former “House” actress Anne Dudek will have a recurring role in “The Flash” as a quirky future genius.

The Carmichael Show will air an upcoming episode featuring uncensored use of the “N-word”

RIP Chuck Barrus creator of The Gong Show age 87

on March 23 CBS renewed 16 of it series including Bull, MacGyver, Kevin Can Wait, Man with a Plan, Superior Donuts, Hawaii 50, Blue Bloods, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS New Orleans, Madam Secretary, Scorpion, Survivor, 60 minutes, and 48 Hours. It had already previously renewed Big Bang theory and NCIS. Still undecided are Criminal Minds, 2 Broke Girls, and Elementary. Also Code Black, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. We are pretty sure “Doubt” is dead because it was pulled after 2 episodes. Pure Genius is probably on thin ice because it did not get a back 9 order. And Training Day is probably no go after the death of Bill Paxton. CBS notes there still could be additional renewals.

Elizaa Dushku is joining the cast of Bull as a potential series regular. I really like her.

Lucifer season 2 is being cut by 4 episodes which will be pushed to the next season for the fall. They were sort of standalone episodes that did not fit into the continuing story.

Robert Rodriguez is going to direct a film remake of Escape from New York. We can’t imagine anything topping the original.

Dave Erickson is stepping down as showrunner on Field the Walking Dead after the upcoming season 3

Harry Connick Jr. syndicated daytime talk show has been renewed for season 2

Elton John, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Tim Rice are bringing animated “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” to the big screen.

NBC will broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics from South Korea live in all time zones.

Netflix has renewed Drew Barrymore comedy “Santa Clara Diet” for season 2.

The Mindy Project will and after season 6

Ken Burns is producing a Mohammed Ali documentary for PBS

ABC canceled series “Time after Time” based on the film of the same name about Hg Wells and Jack the Ripper after 5 episodes.

Netflix will reboot “Lost in Space” as a TV series in 2018

Rainn Wilson will play con man Harry Mudd in upcoming Star Trek: Discovery series. That should be great!

Sylvester Stallone will not be part of “The Expendables” fourth film

Recently departed Walking Dead Sonequa Martin-Green will be first officer on the new Star Trek: Discovery

Former Dallas quarterback Tony Romo is retiring to join CBS sports. Will replace Phil Simms as the lead NFL analyst

Netflix has a renewed Series of Unfortunate Events through season 3

USA Network has renewed Colony for season 3 and we are very well pleased.

RIP comedian Don Rickles age 90

CBS renewed Criminal Minds at the last minute for season 13

Nashville has been renewed for season 6 on best CMT

RIP Dorothy Mengering mother of David Letterman age 95

Syfy Channel has renewed The Magicians for season 3. I kind of like it.

Arrow has promoted Wild Dog and the new Black Canary to series regulars for season 6

Outsiders has been canceled by WGN America after 2 seasons. It was weird but I liked it.

Filter Walking Dead has been renewed for season 4

Animated Disney XD Star Wars Rebels will end after season 4

The Walking Dead has promoted Simon (Negan’s right-hand man), teenager Enid, and neither of the scavengers Jadis into series regulars.

Kevin Spacey will host the 2017 Tony Awards

National Geographic has renewed its Albert Einstein biography series “Genius” for season 2

Joss Whedon cannot get Marvel to agree to a Black Widow standalone film so he jumped to DC and will produce direct Batgirl

The X-Files will be back again next season for 10 episodes

RIP Erin Moran who played Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days age 56

NBC has pulled Powerless from the schedule not airing the final three episodes

AMC has renewed Into the Badlands for season 3 of 16 episodes

RIP Oscar winning director Jonathan Demme age 73. Directed “Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia” among others

Nicholas Cage broke his ankle on the set of a bank heist movie he’s filming in Bulgaria

Showtime announced the final season of Matt LeBlanc comedy “Episodes” will begin August 20 a full 29 months after its last season and. Also season will five of Ray Donovan will premiere August 6

Showtime revival of Twin Peaks begins May 21

Production has shut down on TNT’s “The Last Ship” because star Eric Dane is battling depression

Ryan Seacrest is replacing Michael Strahan as permanent cohost of Live with Kelly Ripa

Fox’s canceled “Pitch” about the first female major league baseball player. Canceled after one season

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy have been renewed to 2020 with their existing casts

Season two of “The Good Fight” will have 13 episodes instead of 10. This is a wonderful show. It’s a shame you have to subscribe to CBS streaming service to get it.

Rumors are American Idol may come back this time to ABC

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Criminal Minds, Code Black, Legends, Once, Timeless, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Supergirl, Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, The 100, PLL, Scandal, The Good Fight and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Bones, Arrow, The 100, Once, Elementary, Suits, Little Liars, NCIS: LA and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s, Empire, The Walking Dead, Good Fight, The 100, Jane the Virgin, SVU and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Once Upon a Time Musical Scoop, Plus Bones, Arrow, NCIS, Grimm, The Fosters, The 100 and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Big Bang, Bates, Bones, Nashville, Walking Dead, Flash, Once, Grimm and More

How Johnny Cash and ‘Shane’ influenced Hugh Jackman’s ‘Logan’

Inside Line: Scoop on The Flash, Once, Supergirl, Five-0, Blindspot, Grimm, Chicago Fire, The Originals and More

May Sweeps Scorecard 2017: Deaths, Breakups, Weddings, Firings, Sex, Resurrections, Time Jumps and More!

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Lucifer, Scorpion, Arrow, Grimm, Suits, Mr. Robot, Chicago Med and More

Grimm Finale: EPs Explain All Those Deaths, Rosalee’s Skipped Pregnancy and Who They Just Couldn’t Bring Back