I never write these entertainment news blogs as frequently as I would like. This particular one is probably the latest I’ve ever done considering it’s currently mid-July and my previous one was late March. But since then I have been adapting to a new motorized wheelchair, spending a week in the hospital with a UTI and surgical implantation of a G-tube, and getting sued for copyright infringement. So I’ve had a full plate lately. Perhaps we ought not to call this “entertainment news” as much as it should be called “entertainment recent history”. So basically the probably won’t be many “spoilers” and there will be lots of end of season postmortem interviews with cast and show runners. And at some point along the way we will actually get some news about next season.

First a couple of notes about movies. Batman v. Superman was pretty good. Any concerns about whether or not Ben Affleck could play the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman I think are pretty much ancient history. It is confirmed he will be directing himself in that sequel which we look forward to. I liked Batman v Superman better than the most recent Superman movie which kind of got boring with Superman and Zod spending so much time throwing each other through skyscrapers. So this was a step up for the DC universe.

Then I went to see Capt. America: Civil War and I realized that DC has a long way to go before they ever get in the same league (no pun intended) as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This latest installment from Marvel was probably the best comic book movie I’ve seen in many, many years. Maybe the best ever. One critic of CA:CW complained that it didn’t really resolve anything. That might be its only plot flaw. I’m not saying we can’t leave some loose ends. I guess I’m just saying the ending wasn’t that satisfying. But everything else about it was well worth seeing. Some very memorable and iconic moments throughout.

I also saw “Finding Dory” which was the first Pixar movie I managed to catch in the theater since Toy Story 3. Reviewers have said it was better than Finding Nemo but I’m awfully fond of the original so I will say it’s a worthy sequel every bit as good. Of course as a CGI enthusiast I find myself looking at the technical details. It’s been reported that Pixar spent 2 years trying to figure out how to get the Octopus character to move realistically. Most of the time he moved so quickly that it was hard to tell if his movement was natural or not. But everything else about the film was visually well-crafted. And the opening short subject was not only very funny but had some amazing photorealistic rendering that blew my mind.

As for summer replacement TV shows, you can skip “”Feed the Beast” featuring David Schwimmer as a restaurant owner whose brother has mafia problems. If you like over the top, ridiculous, sci-fi humor with a healthy dose of political sarcasm that you definitely need to check out “Brain Dead”. It’s a political comedy where politicians brains are being eaten by insects that came from a meteor from outer space. Especially funny are the recaps of previous episodes that appear at the beginning of each new episode. They are set to music and very funny. They also did a really good job of recapping the previous episodes. This show is pretty stupid but there’s nothing much else to watch during the summer and it does have its funny moments.

If you did not see the AMC spy thriller miniseries “The Night Manager”, definitely try to catch it on demand or streaming if you can. Absolutely awesome.

Also on AMC the new supernatural comedy based on a graphic novel “Preacher” is well worth watching if you’re into that particular genre. Chris Hardwick had a special “Talking Preacher” after the first episode and will have another one after the finale. The current season will run 10 episodes and season 2 has already been ordered for 13 episodes.

Speaking of after shows…  we have seen that Chris Hardwick has managed to spawn a whole new genre of TV shows with “Talking _whatever_” as other shows have developed their own similar talkshows. However imitators are having a difficult time matching the quality of what Hardwick does in his after shows. They tried it with “Sons of Anarchy” and did an abysmal job. The latest additions are “After the Black” for fans of “Orphan Black” and “After the Thrones” for “”Game of Thrones”.

The actual talkshow portion of After the Black is watchable but not great. It consists of 2 hosts typically 2 guest cast members. The problem is you have one actress playing about a third of the roles of the series and you can’t have her on every week.  The best part of the show are the behind-the-scenes features that show some of how it was filmed. The show is watchable but definitely not up to the quality that Hardwick in his shows.

For fans of “Game of Thrones” we want to highly recommend “After the Thrones”. The formula is little bit different than Hardwick/Anarchy/Black. There are no cast members or show runners as guests. It only consists of extremely knowledgeable hosts discussing the finer details of the episodes. Most useful is a regular segment called “Who the fuck was that?” in which they remind you of the back story behind some minor character you haven’t seen since season 2 but who pops up in the current episode. These people know their episodes and the books inside out and when the regular hosts need help they call in other fan experts who have an even deeper understanding of the back stories. Because the show is politically complex and has so many characters it’s really great to have this analysis to point out some of the more subtle parts of the plot. Because this season uses flashbacks is especially helpful. If you have already watched the entire season of Game of Thrones but have not seen After the Thrones, you might want to go back to your HBO on Demand or HBO go and catch up on this.

Late word is that USA Network’s Mr. Robot will also have an after show for its season premiere July 13. The show will be hosted by Andy Greenwald who is one of the hosts of After the Thrones. Additionally season 2 has been expanded from 10 episodes up to 12.

Normally at this point I would say “In the links below read about…” And then list a bunch of topics. But to see the actual articles you would have to jump to be in the blog to actually click on the links. I did this because often I wanted to describe the link in my own words rather than the headline of the actual article. But my particular description wasn’t significantly different from the headline itself so this time I’m just going to give you the links right here. After we do that, there was typically a section which would begin with “Also of interest but not linked…” And then there would be a lengthy list of news bits that were one or two sentences each. They were in the order in which I discovered them while browsing through the various websites that I follow using an RSS reader. This time were going to try to organize things a little bit and put news items into various categories.

So here we go. Linked articles that you might find interesting. Note that there were other “spoiler” articles I did not include because they weren’t really spoilers because we’re so far behind.

‘The 100’ Showrunner: “Knowing What I Know Now I Would Have Done Some Things Differently” With Lexa’s Death — Wondercon

‘Supergirl’-‘Flash’ Crossover: EP Andrew Kreisberg On How It Came Together & What Else The Multiverse Might Bring  Note: this article was before it was announced that Supergirl was moving to CW network.

Shameless Boss on Fiona’s Wedding Day Shocker, Lip’s Spiral and More

‘The Walking Dead’ EP Gale Anne Hurd On Negan, Season 7, ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ & ‘Hunters’

The Walking Dead EP Defends Cliffhanger Ending, Teases Season 7’s ‘Boundary-Pushing’ Death Scene

Legends of Tomorrow Boss Talks About Team’s Latest Loss, JSA Member’s Intro

Grimm Finale: EPs Talk [Spoiler]’s Death, Rosalee’s Secret, [Spoiler]’s ‘Complex’ Return and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on The Flash, Chicago Fire, Outlander, Gotham, Bones, Grimm, UnREAL, Empire and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Once, Grey’s, Walking Dead, Supernatural, Legends, Suits, TVD, Blindspot and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Once Upon a Time, Legends, POI, Rizzoli & Isles and More

Academy OKs New Rules On Oscar Qualifying Runs, Campaigning

 

Renewals and Cancellations

We’ve already reported many cancellations and renewals that were done early in the renewal season but there have been some last-minute renewals and cancellation that we are going to mention here. For an overall look at what’s been canceled or renewed as always we refer you to these links from TVline.com.

Broadcast TV renewal scorecard from TVline.com

Cable TV and Streaming renewal scorecard from TVline.com

And if you want to be ahead of the new fall schedule follow the next link to a graphic showing the entire schedule. If it comes up small on your screen try clicking on the image again after it comes up.

Fall TV schedule from TVline.com

We will have a more in-depth look at the new TV schedule in a later blog installed.

Here are some specific renewals and cancellation of interest as well as news about changes for upcoming seasons

Supergirl was canceled by CBS and then almost immediately picked up by CW network. CW will rerun entire season 1 beginning August 1. Before season 2 premieres on October 10.

CBS finally decided to renew Criminal Minds for season 12 long after other renewals announced.

CBS has renewed sitcom Life in Pieces. I tried it for a short piece and didn’t care for it.

Apparently “Limitless” didn’t live up to its name. Canceled by CBS after one season and definitely will not be picked up by any other network or streaming service. The show was barely watchable. It tried to play up the comedy too much compared to the serious of the movie upon which was based.

Producers of Arrow admit that season 4 flashbacks didn’t really work very well. Season 5 will continue to have flashbacks but probably that will be the end of them as we finally catch up to the start of the show.

BBC has announced Sherlock season 4 is definitely coming

Fox has renewed Lucifer which I really liked and Rosewood which I didn’t care for.

Fox has canceled Grinder, Grandfathered, Bordertown, and Cooper Barrett. I only watched Grinder and I was surprised it wasn’t canceled midseason.

To my surprise Sleepy Hollow has been renewed for season 4. I like it okay but I’m just surprised.

After spending all of last season in Europe and the Middle East, Showtime’s “Homeland” season 6 will take place back at home specifically New York City.

ABC first announced Stana Katic would not return for next season of Castle.  This wasn’t a surprise because she appeared to want out last season. It was also no surprise that a few weeks later they canceled the show altogether because the final season was barely watchable and without Detective Beckett to play off of there was nothing for Castle to do. Their relationship was the heart of the show.

ABC canceled the Muppets and Galivant

ABC’s Scandal will not return until midseason because of Kerry Washington’s pregnancy

Agents of Shield spinoff series to feature agents Bobbi and Lance has been on again off again many times. Currently off.

ABC has canceled Nashville after 4 seasons. Also has canceled midseason comedy Uncle Buck after 1 season.

ABC’s Once Upon a Time will have a single storyline throughout its 22 episodes rather than having 2 story arcs split over 2 half seasons of 11 episodes each.

MTV has renewed fantasy series Shananara Chronicles for season 2. This was a pretty good fantasy series except for the really bad makeup effects on the elves pointed ears.

NBC announced that Grimm season 6 will only be 13 episodes instead of the usual 22. I still watch it but it has lost much of its appeal. Would not be surprised if season 6 was the last although that’s not yet official.

NBC canceled Game of Silence after one season. Never saw it.

NBC has canceled sitcoms Crowded and Undatable. And medical drama Heartbeat

NBC has renewed sitcom The Carmichael Show for season 3. I kind of like it.

FX series “The Americans” has been renewed for a 13 episode season 5 to show 2017 and a 10 episode final season 6 in 2018.

Outlander has been renewed for season 3 and 4 Starz and were very well pleased.

TNT’s Major Crimes season 5 has been increased from 13 to 21 episodes for season 5

TNT has renewed Animal Kingdom about a family of criminals for season 2.

HBO has reversed its decision to renew rock ‘n roll series Vinyl. Now officially canceled.

SyFy Channel has renewed 12 Monkeys for a season 3.

Supernatural show “Hunters” has been canceled from SyFy Channel after one season. I tried one episode did not care for it.

CW network will not renew Containment for a second season

 

New TV and Movie Productions

There will be a new Dr. Who spinoff series for kids called “Class”. Is about the students of the Coal Hill School which has been featured in various Dr. Who episodes since 1963.

NBC will air a live presentation the play “A Few Good Men” written by Aaron Sorkin with was the basis of the movie of the same name. Coming in 2017

Warner Bros. is considering an animated feature “Speedy Gonzales”

After FX success with the OJ story CBS is developing a true crime anthology series that will start out with JonBenet Ramsey story.

Spike TV has ordered a 10 episode series based on Stephen King’s “The Mist”

James Cameron reveals that there will be 4 sequels to Avatar but who knows how many of us will live to see them all. Currently scheduled for 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023.

TNT is rebooting Tales of the Crypt for 10 episodes.

Warner Bros. is making a movie version of the 80s TV show CHiPs scheduled for summer 2017.

ABC has ordered a series “Time after Time” based on the film which pits HG Wells versus Jack the Ripper

EPIX network has ordered a 10 episode series “Get Shorty” based on the Elmore Leonard novel which was famously made into a movie with John Travolta.

Netflix is working on obtaining series based on Marvel’s Iron Fist.

There will be a spinoff series of The Good Wife based on the Diana Lockhart character played by Christine Baranski. It will only be on the CBS streaming service however in the spring of 2017.

Netflix has ordered a 10 episode reboot of “Lost in Space” in 2018

Disney announces a sequel to Wreck It Ralph set for 2018

 

Casting News

Much to no one’s surprise Caitlyn Jenner will join the cast of Amazon transgender themed series “Transparent”. Also show has been renewed for season 4.

Actor Echo Kellum who plays the tech whiz Curtis Holt on Arrow has been promoted to series regular for next season.

Joanne Kelly a.k.a. agent Myka Bering on Warehouse 13 will be a regular on season 2 of CBS’s Zoo

Clara Renée a.k.a. Hawkgirl is leaving DC Legends Tomorrow because she beat the bad guy in the season finale.

Wonder Woman is joining Supergirl. Not the character the actress. Lynda Carter has been cast as the president for the upcoming season of Supergirl. Also we will finally meet cousin Superman in the first two episodes next season.

Ewan McGregor will play twins in season 3 of FX series Fargo in 2017

Helen Mirren has joined the cast of Fast and Furious 8.

Archie Panjabi a.k.a. Kallinda on The Good Wife has joined the cast of NBC’s Blindspot

William Fichtner played the paraplegic boyfriend Allison Jannery on CBS sitcom Mom has been promoted to series regular for the next season.

Tom Felton a.k.a. Draco Malfoy is joining the cast of The Flash as a series regular. Will play a CSI who is suspicious that Barry Allen has a secret.

As expected Jeffrey Dean Morgan is now officially series regular on The Walking Dead along with Tom Payne who plays “Jesus”.

Kiefer Sutherland will appear in a reboot 1990 movie Flatliners

John Barrowman is now considered a series regular on all of the CW/DC comic book shows.

Sara Ramirez a.k.a. Dr. Callie Torres is leaving Grey’s Anatomy after 10 seasons.

 

General Entertainment News

Comcast and NBC Universal have purchased DreamWorks animation for $3.8 million

Production on season two of Amazon series “The Man in the High Castle” has been suspended because the showrunner made an abrupt exit.

After the Orlando mass shooting the cast of Hamilton decided not to carry prop guns during their Tony awards performance. Also the season premiere of TNT’s “The Last Ship” was delayed one week because it featured a shoot out in a nightclub.

Stephen Colbert will broadcast live episodes the reefs of the Cleveland and Philadelphia political conventions but will still be based in New York. Also Seth Myers will be live after the night in which Donald Trump accepts his nomination.

Winter isn’t coming fast enough. Production on Game of Thrones final season has been delayed so that their shooting locations will have less sunny weather.

It is been revealed that in the new Star Trek movie we will find out that Sulu is gay. Strangely actor George Takei who previously played the character in the original series and who he himself is gay is opposing the move. Claims that he lobbied Gene Roddenberry for a gay character in the original series although not that his own character should be gay. Roddenberry was sympathetic but said the world wasn’t ready for it yet and he was probably right. Takei wanted the new film to include gay characters but not Sulu because “that wasn’t Roddenberry’s vision”. He forgets that this is a rebooted universe in which a number of details about characters have significantly changed for example the romance between Spock and Uhura. I don’t understand his opposition to the move given that he such a vocal LGBT advocate. Various cast members have expressed their disappointment to Takei’s opposition.

In Memoriam

RIP Oscar winner Patty Duke at age 69

RIP James Noble who played the goofy governor on “Benson” dead at 94

RIP Erik Bauersofeld who was the voice of fish-headed Adm. Ackar in the Star Wars films with his famous “it’s a trap” has died at age 93.

RIP 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer age 84. He had just retired from the show a few weeks earlier after 46 years.

RIP actor Alan Young who played Wilbur on the 60s talking horse show Mister Ed. He was 96

RIP actor Michu Mezaros who was the voice of alien puppet ALF in the 80s TV show. He was 76.

RIP actress Janet Waldo who was the voice of Judy Jetson on the animated series. Age 98

RIP actor Anton Yelchin who played Ensign Checkoff in the latest Star Trek movies. Car accident age 27

RIP Oscar winner director Michael Cimino known for The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate. Age 77

RIP actress Noel Neill who played Lois Lane in the TV series Adventures of Superman from 1953-1958 she was 95. Had cameo parts in a variety of Superman films.

 

We start off this installment of our entertainment news by mourning the death of keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson of the 60/70’s rock group Emerson Lake and Palmer. He was a classically trained pianist who produced rock versions of classical music such as Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”, the British hymn “Jerusalem” and a very funky Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies from the Nutcracker retitled “Nut-rocker”. Their album Brain Salad Surgery was considered a masterpiece and included the much sampled “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends…” phrase. However the true masterpiece was Works volume 1 and 2. This featured solo pieces by each of the trio and combine pieces by the group. Most notably was Emerson’s piano Concerto number 1 which showed what a phenomenal composer he really was. In it you will hear influences from such modern composers as Aaron Copeland and George Gershwin. The song “Pirates” could’ve easily been the centerpiece of a Broadway musical had they chosen to go that route. It was enough to make you want to grab your parrot and your peg leg and hit the high seas. While groups like The Moody Blues were the first to record rock music with a full Symphony Orchestra accompanying them, Emerson Lake and Palmer actually went on the road for the Works tour with a full symphony. Each instrument in the orchestra at its own microphone connected to a giant mixing board that was controlled by the conductor of the orchestra. I was privileged to see the concert at Market Square Arena when they came to Indianapolis and it was a concert I will never forget. Unfortunately it was so expensive to tour with a full orchestra that they needed to sell out every venue just to break even. While it was well attended it did not meet that goal. The acquaintance of mine had tickets to see them at Indiana State in Terre Haute later that week but the rest of the tour was canceled when they did not perform there. I felt so lucky that they did not cancel the tour a day earlier. The group reunited for a 40^th anniversary concert but had not been any new music in years. Sadly Emerson’s death was ruled a suicide.

 

Last Sunday on Palm Sunday fonts that were presented a “Live” musical event titled “The Passion”. Narrated by Tyler Perry and set in outdoor set in a park in New Orleans it took modern music strategically placed in a retelling of the passion and death of Jesus. It took songs that were not really intended to illustrate that story and tried to make them fit the story, Basically they took a bunch of songs about peace and love and a couple about betrayal or alienation and tried to put them in the context of the story. In some instances it worked but in others the connections were minimal. I tried to set aside the fact that I am an enormous fan of Jesus Christ Superstar and just judge it on its own merits. It should be no surprise that I would prefer listening to or watching Superstar than this particular performance. For me the only way I can appreciate it is to just enjoy the performances of the individual songs and not try to criticize how well they fit the story they were trying to tell. In that sense the performances were well done, and often quite moving. Tyler Perry’s narration that was supposed to link the songs into the story didn’t really add a whole lot. I was a bit surprised at the way he talked about the resurrection itself. He was sensitive to the fact that not everyone believes in the resurrection. His narration included many sentences like “no matter what you believe” and then went on to say that the message of Jesus is universal even if your belief in the resurrection may not be. I thought that was an amazing and wonderful concession for what was presumably a religiously motivated presentation. It set a tone that made it in no way preachy or proselytizing. I put the word “Live” in quotes because you could hardly call it a live performance throughout. I’m estimating three fourths of it had been taped in advance at various locations around New Orleans. The audience at the stage in the park viewed those scenes on giant video screens. I have to wonder if they felt cheated being told they were going to a live musical event and then standing around and watching it on TV screens. A few of the musical numbers were presented on the stage live as well as the final few numbers. It appears that the taped segments were accompanied by live musicians and backup singers on stage but it was still stretching things to call it “live”. There was also this whole subplot of people carrying a 20 foot long electronic illuminated cross through the streets of New Orleans starting at the New Orleans Superdome and ending in the park at the concert venue. Along the way they interviewed people who were accompanying the cross talking about New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, and whatever else. That really added nothing to the event and in fact distracted from it in my opinion. The program is still available on demand and they are no doubt selling DVDs and Blu-rays of it. If you watch it at all, do so for the musical performances themselves and not for any kind of inspirational telling of the story of the passion. The performances by Tricia Yearwood as Mary the mother of Jesus were especially good as well as Seal as Pontius Pilate singing “Mad World”.

 

Normally the cancellation of a TV show gets a one line mention on this blog perhaps with an extra comment of my reaction pro or con. But there is a recent cancellation that deserves special note. Typically the cancellation of a long-running show when canceled midseason is news that trickles out bit by bit. For example one of the stars of Mike and Molly send out a tweet midseason that the show is not going to be renewed beyond the current running season. Sometimes an iconic show will announce in advance that this is going to be the final season. Shows like Sons Of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, and True Blood just to name a few have in advance announced and promoted “Be sure to catch the final season”. But a midseason decision to not renew is the kind of thing you generally announce quietly. That is except for the case of the CBS legal drama “The Good Wife” they decided to announce midseason that this was the final season of the biggest stage available to them. The cancellation was announced during a Super Bowl ad. I guess this is the biggest exception to prove the rule ever created 🙂 Not only is the cancellation itself a surprise but the big stage way they did it is unprecedented.

 

Speaking of cancellations and renewals. Here are links to Tvline’s scorecards on what is being renewed, canceled, and those shows pending with speculation on the odds

Broadcast Cancellation Scorecard

Cable and streaming shows Cancellation Scorecard

 

Now on to our regularly scheduled entertainment news. In the links below see…

 

Spoilers by Michael Ausiello dated February 6

Interview with The Walking Dead show runner about romance in the apocalypse

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 1

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 17

Spoilers from Inside Line dated March 25

 

Not in the links below but also of interest

Jane Pinkett Smith will return to Gotham for a couple of episodes this season as Fish Mooney

Gilmore Girls in getting a revival on Netflix

Louis CK has released a new TV series available for download on his website for $3-$5 per episode. Like his previous stand up special he’s cutting out the middleman and selling it directly himself.

SyFy Channel has ordered 13 episodes of a futuristic thriller titled “Incorporated” typical everything is run by corporations in the future (like five notes from now)

WGN America has canceled “Manhattan” after 2 seasons. The show was about the building of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan project. I watched four or five episodes of the first season and didn’t really care for it.

“Colony” has been renewed for season 2 by USA Network. I’m well pleased.

The Flash is doing a crossover episode to Supergirl despite the fact it is on a different network

NBC has renewed Shades of Blue starring Jennifer Lopez for season 2

CBS is canceled the Jane Lynch sitcom Angel from Hell after just a few episodes

Disney is making a holiday special featuring characters from Frozen scheduled for 2017

The History Channel remake of Alex Haley’s “Roots” will premiere memorial day weekend just sneaking in the deadline for a 2016 Emmy nomination

Unforgettable which was previously canceled on CBS and picked up on A&E has been canceled again.

Rock ‘n roll is here to stay. HBO has renewed “Vinyl” for season 2

ABC announced renewals of Grays Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Agents of Shield[, blackish, Once upon a Time, Quantico, The Goldbergs, Fresh off the Boat, The Middle, Modern Family, Shark Tank, Dancing With The Stars and America’s Funniest Home Videos. Still undecided Castle, Nashville, Last Man Standing, Doctor Ken, the Muppets, American crime, Gallivant, and Agent Carter.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the 2016 Emmy awards in September

Amazon prime announced that Victorian crime drama Ripper Street fifth season will be its last

Martial arts fantasy series Into the Badlands has been renewed for season 2 at AMC. I’m not really a kung fu fan but I like this one.

USA announced Royal Pains will end after season 8

CW network has renewed Arrow, The Flash, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Supernatural, The 100, Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Reign. It’s top three rated shows are The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow in that order.

Maya Rudolph and Martin Short will have a live comedy variety series on NBC starting May 31^st at 10 PM. Will also feature Kenyan Thompson.

Netflix has announced that Marvel’s Luke Cage will premiere September 30^th

Switched at Birth will end after season 5 consisting of 10 episodes in 2017.

The new legal spinoff of Chicago PD, Chicago Fire and Chicago Med will not be called Chicago Law after all. Instead it’s going to be Chicago Justice.

Peter Dinkledge will host SNL on April 2

Patrick Warburton has been cast Lemony Snicket in the upcoming series for Netflix

Cinemax has announced “Outcast” the new demon vs. humanity series from walking dead creator Robert Kirkman has been renewed for season 2 even though season 1 will not premiere until June.

The final season of Person of Interest which starts May 3. Cancellation is official.

CBS will have a summer series titled BrainDead premiering June 13. Set in Washington DC a young Capitol Hill staffer played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead discovers that the government has stopped working and bugs are eating the brains of Congress members. Sounds like a reality series to me 🙂

ABC has canceled “Of Kings and Prophets” after just two episodes. I watched about five minutes which was apparently typical 🙂

Drew Barrymore And Timothy Oliphant Will Start a Sitcom for Netflix

Elijah Wood will star in a 8 episode adaptation of Dirk Gently Detective Agency for BBC America

RIP comedian Gary Shandling age 66

Fox network has renewed Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Last Man on Earth, Gotham, Empire, Screen Queens, And Bones. Still undecided The Grinder, Grandfathered, Rosewood, Lucifer, and Sleepy Hollow. Also New Girl is considered a sure bet.

CBS has renewed Blue Bloods, Elementary, Hawaii 50, Madam Secretary, Mom, all three NCIS, Two Broke Girls, Survivor, Amazing Race, and Big Bang Theory. No word yet on Supergirl, Limitless, Criminal Minds or others.

HBO has canceled comedy series “Togetherness”

There will be a “Talking Dead” after each episode of “Fear The Walking Dead” however it will be delayed till 11:30 PM on the first episode to allow for the premiere of new series “The Preacher”

Vin Diesel has said there will be new Fast and Furious movies in 2017, 2019, and 2021. Apparently the first seven installments left lots of unanswered questions 🙂

RIP Bob Elliott part of the Bob and Ray comedy team and father of comedian Chris Elliott. He was 92.

Netflix has ordered Orange Is the New Black renewed for 3 additional seasons

Bob Costas will be the anchor of NBC Olympics coverage from Brazil. This is his 11^th time which is a record.

History Channel has renewed “Vikings” for season 6.

Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell will star in the film titled “Deepwater Horizon” about the oil well disaster.

RIP former Today Show host and baseball player Joe Garagiola age 90

RIP SAG-AFTRA President and actor Ken Howard 871

Lady Gaga has announced she is returning for another season of American Horror Story.

It has been confirmed that Steven Spielberg will direct Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 5

Shemar Moore has left Criminal Minds after a recent episode.

 

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Gilmore, Grey’s, Arrow, Castle, Walking Dead, Good Wife, The Flash and More!

 

Walking Dead: EP Scott M. Gimple Reveals Why He Finally Went There With [Spoiler] and [Spoiler]

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Bates Motel, Once, S.H.I.E.L.D., The 100, Big Bang, NCIS, Nashville, Castle and More!

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Flash, Bones, Gilmore Girls, Legends, NCIS, Five-0, Outlander, PLL, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More

Matt’s Inside Line: #SuperFlash Scoop, Plus Criminal Minds, Blindspot, Once, Prison Break, B99, Jane and More

 

With the holidays, Christmas cards to design, and a variety of other projects keeping me busy we are again way overdue for an entertainment blog entry.

 

Of course the biggest story since our last installment is the release of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. We saw at approximately a week after it opened. Keep in mind that I never had any problems with Episode I Phantom Menace or any of the other reviled episodes of Star Wars. So my endorsement of the new episode probably isn’t very weighty. But a number of other people who did not like episodes I through III have given big thumbs up to VII so even if you are picky about which Star Wars you do or don’t like, this one is probably a good one for you as well.

 

As you know this blog is 90% spoilers anyway but I will give you the obligatory spoiler warning for this particular review. Consider the following…

 

A young person who lives on a desert planet encounters a cute robot. They go off on an adventure with a bunch of resistance fighters to fight an evil empire. Along the way they had exciting battles in spaceships, meet an evil guy in a black suit and helmet, hang out in a cantina full of aliens, encounter an elderly mentor who (I told you spoilers) ends up getting killed. In the end they go on to seek a master of the force to train them for future adventures. Quiz time: did I describe Star Wars IV: A New Hope or Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens… Answer: Yes both. Basically it’s the same plot with different characters but despite the fact that we see that all before, it still works very well. To quote the mythology of Battle Star Galactica “All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again”. The basic story is that Luke Skywalker has gone missing and we are looking for the pieces of a map to figure out where he is. We end up encountering Hon Solo and his fuzzy sidekick and their iconic spacecraft The Millennium Falcon. Harrison Ford beautifully re-creates his character. He’s exactly as you would expect that character to be after aging all these years. His brief scenes with Carrie Fisher actually show more chemistry between them than it did in the original series. They look exactly like you would expect an old grumpy couple who had gone their separate ways to behave. The seam between bad guy Kylo Ren and our new hero Rey where they are using mind Force games against one another is probably the best bit of acting you will find in any Star Wars film ever. Luke Skywalker does not appear until the very final scene of the film. The camera dwells on his face to let you soak it in there is plenty to soak. He looks AWESOME. He looks like an old Jedi ought to look. He still is the somewhat boyish looking Luke yet wrinkled with Obi-Wan style beard. It was definitely worth waiting for. One disappointing aspect of the film. Some of the more iconic images from the trailer were actually from a Force Dream hallucination that Rey has. And the voiceover narration from Skywalker about “The force was strong in my family… My father had it, I had it…” etc. appears nowhere in the movie. That is one of my biggest pet peeves is when something that appears in a trailer appears nowhere in the film itself. If you’re looking for space battles, there aren’t any. All of the ship to ship and ship to ground battles take place in the atmosphere of the planet’s. It gives a whole new look and feel to the aerial battles which is new and refreshing. I saw it in IMAX 3-D I do recommend seeing it in 3-D if you can’t get to IMAX 3-D go for normal 3-D vs. IMAX non-3-D. The plot leaves plenty of unanswered questions. Some of them have fairly obvious answers while others are a total mystery. The upcoming two sequels have been set up beautifully. We can’t wait.

 

On the TV side of things we want to recommend the new USA series Colony. It’s the story of a family lives in Los Angeles in the near future. The world has been invaded by aliens and they had divided LA up into three or four occupations zones separated by a 300 foot tall wall. The husband, a former police officer is refuted by the local human governor who has been put in place by the aliens. His job is to infiltrate the resistance and bring them to justice. He doesn’t realize his wife is one of the leaders of the resistance. I’ve only seen one episode but it looks pretty good.

 

Also check out Billions a new series on Showtime. Damien Lewis (the red haired guy from Homeland) plays a billionaire Donald Trump like character. Paul Giamatti is the federal prosecutor trying to catch him in illegal dealings. His wife is a psychologist consultant who works for the billionaire creating an interesting conflict of interest. Again we’ve only seen one episode but it looks good so far.

 

The jury is still out on NBC’s Shades of Blue sky Jennifer Lopez as a dirty cop who is recruited by internal affairs to rat out her fellow dirty cops. It takes a while to think of like Lopez who you would think would play a good guy to be such a crooked cop. It remains to be seen if he can pull off the role credibly or not. Again we only have one episode under our belts.

 

Next we had a new series on SyFy Channel called “The Expanse”. It bills itself as “Game of Thrones in outer space”. While I’m not sure quite rises to that level, it is an interesting space sci-fi story with lots of complicated political back stories driving the whole thing along. There’s plenty of action and the special effects are of exceptional quality for a TV series. Also on SyFy Channel “The Magicians”. I’m calling it Harry Potter meets The Breakfast Club with a touch of Chronicles of Narnia thrown in. A young graduate student who is socially inept and withdrawn Andrew is obsessed with a series of fantasy novels that are a ripoff of Narnia suddenly finds himself recruited into a Hogwarts like school for magicians along with a female friend of his. She gets rejected by the school and was supposed to get her memory wiped the event but somehow she retain the memories. He goes on to enter the school where he meets a bunch of other equally socially maladjusted misfits. Of course there’s some big evil force out there and it’s his destiny to fight it. The instructors at the school no more than they are saying. You will have to decide if it’s of your liking or not.

 

Finally we had the six episode return of The X-Files. I never watched the original series for some reason. I guess I just didn’t care for UFO plot lines. I did see the feature film and liked it okay. I will stick with these 6 episodes but I’m not very impressed. I realize that our two heroes basically very laid-back low-key characters but I thought the acting in the first new episode was horrible. Mulder was supposed off the rails obsessed with his latest conspiracy theory and Agent Scully was trying to calm him down but neither one of them seemed to have any passion in their right set of. She was trying to calm down a guy who wasn’t at all manic. It almost seemed like they were just cold reading their lines off a few cards. I also expected with just six episodes that it would be one big story spread over the entire season but as we got to the second episode it seemed as though the events of the first episode never occurred. It’s still going to be week by week. Presumably they will get back to main plot line at some point but it was much more episodic than I expected for such a short season. That tells me that the purpose behind it was to create a one-off miniseries but to perhaps test the waters for a longer come back. I will probably watch them all but I can’t call myself a big fan. At this point no regrets for missing the original series.

 

If you are a fan of fantasy adventure such as Lord of the Rings suggest you check out MTV’s New Fantasy Series The Shannara Chronicles. Is a 10 episode series based on the books by Terry Brooks. Pretty good stuff.

 

One last item… The comic book TV series currently showing are all maintaining exceptionally high quality. Arrow and The Flash are at their usual high standards. Gotham consistently amazes me. And even the new Supergirl has much to recommend. Of course the big problem with Superman or Supergirl has always been how can you really disguise yourself with just a pair of glasses at a different hairdo. But much to my surprise Melissa Benoist does an amazing job of changing her personality between the mild-mannered Kara Danvers and the powerful sophisticated Supergirl. That times it almost looks like a different actress playing the part. The stories go well beyond the typical monster of the week and have a lot of heart and depth to them. Her boss played by Calista Flockhart initially appears to be a very shallow one-dimensional character but of course in the series they flash her out to be someone really interesting, complex, and nuanced. One more comic book hero to discuss. Netflix’s Jessica Jones is every bit as good or even better than Daredevil. We are only a couple of episodes into it but it is well worth checking out. If you’ve not seen it yet, I’m going to give you one spoiler that will help your understanding of the early episodes. The bad guy played by David Tennant as the ability to mind control people. Had not known that going into the series it might’ve been a little bit difficult to follow the first episode. So that’s not so much of a spoiler as a helper to set up series. Highly recommend all of these comic book shows. We’ve not yet seen the new DC series Legends of Tomorrow but we will cover it next time.

 

When more or less last item. There seem to be a lot of death notices in this installment of my blog but 2 of them definitely deserve broken out into this lead paragraph section. I have to admit I was never a big fan of David Bowie but I did like Space Oddity and a couple of other of his hit songs. I know he was a great talent but I’m sorry to say I doubt I will miss him. Alan Rickman on the other hand will be very sadly missed. As many others who had eulogized him, I can’t imagine any other actor being able to pull off Professor Snape as brilliantly as he did. It wasn’t until we got to the final episodes that we really got to see the depth of that amazing character and thus to appreciate the brilliance of his performance throughout the 8 Harry Potter films. His other performances which have been eulogized I have to admit I had forgotten about but in retrospect do recall that they were brilliant. A great voice has been silenced. Be sure to check out the first of our links listing other memorable Alan Rickman performances.

 

Now onto the news bits…

 

In the links below read…

 

10 Alan Rickman movies to watch besides Harry Potter as recommended by USA Today

Doctor Who show runner Stephen Moffat stepping down after season 10

Read about the new “Dark Knight III” series of graphic novels from Frank Miller

Interview with Scott Gimpel EP producer of The Walking Dead about the rest of the season

Interview with producer of Gotham about the midseason finale and what’s coming next

Article describes the struggle to find 70 mm theaters to show 70 mm film version of Quentin Tarantino’s “Hateful 8”

Interview with “The Leftovers” EP about season 2 finale and season 3 preview

Spoilers (such as they are) from Michael Ausiello dated December 8. A little bit out of date aren’t they 🙂

Interview with EP of Quantico about midseason finale

Spoilers from Inside Line dated December 15

Interview with EP of Fargo after season 2 and looking forward at season 3

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated December 17

Interview with cast of Netflix series Jessica Jones

Spoilers from Inside Line dated January 19

 

 

Not in the links below but also of interest…

In addition to the news that Stephen Moffat is leaving Doctor Who, we also learn there will be no new episodes in 2016 except for the Christmas special. Season 10 will be in the spring of 2017

Sonia Braga has joined the cast of the upcoming Marvel’s Luke Cage series from Netflix. She will play Soledad Temple mother to Claire Temple (played by Rosariro Dawson as she was in Daredevil). The series will drop sometime later this year.

Kevin Bacon is trying to develop his or film series Tremors into a TV show. No network attached yet.

ABC has renewed Dancing with the Stars to premier March 21st. Curmudgeon head judge Len Goodman will return.

RIP soap opera actor David Canary 77 who played on All My Children

Wanda Sykes has joined the cast of blackish

So far the only appearance of Superman on Supergirl has been a silhouette however may have a casting call out for someone to play Kal-el. However it will be at age 13. Will explore the relationship between him and Kara.

Amazon’s series Man in the High Castle is an alternate history series speculating if the Nazis had won World War II. Promotional posters featuring swastikas were pulled from New York City subways after people complained.

RIP Al Markim age 88. Played Astro in the nineteen fifties TV series Tom Corbett, Space Cadet

In case you missed it Gotham has added a new classic Batman villain. Mister Freeze has arrived.

ABC Family Channel has renewed “the Fosters” for season 4

Journalist Linda Ellerbe who was the inspiration for the character Murphy Brown is retiring after 44 years of broadcasting. I first fell in love with her on her late late night show NBC News Overnight but for the past 20+ years she has been doing a news program for kids on Nickelodeon.

RIP John “Cha-Cha” Ciarca at 69. Played Albie Cianflone on the Sopranos

“The Wiz Live” was the first live TV program to include an audio track on the SAP channel describing the program for visually impaired viewers. Several scripted programs especially those on USA Network such as Suits have been featuring description tracks. If you see a big letter D))) symbol in the upper right corner that indicates audio narration for visually impaired. Of course even though this was a live program, it was totally scripted so it was easy to create the descriptive track in advance.

David E Kelly is producing a new legal drama for Amazon prime streaming. In most Billy Bob Thorton, William Hurt, and Molly Parker among others. It was ordered straight to series without a pilot and will drop sometime this year.

FXX has renewed “You’re the Worst” for season 3

Former Superman from Smallville Tom Welling will starting a new series for CBS titled Section 13. It is an action spy drama.

Jay Leno’s Garage has been renewed for a second season on CNBC

After season 2 of Fargo went back to the 70s it has been announced that season 3 will be set in present-day.

RIP Oscar nominated actor Robert Loggia age 85. Known for dancing with Tom Hanks on a giant keyboard in “Big”. Also had memorable roles in Scarface and Independence Day

NBC announced The Blacklist has been renewed for season 4

Showtime has announced it is renewing Homeland and The Affair for an additional season

Although billed as a one time 10 episode event series, “Wayward Pines” has been renewed for season 2. Options on all the actors have run out so it will probably have a new cast but will pick up approximately where the first series left off.

HBO has renewed “The Leftovers” for a third and final season despite the fact that me and three or four other people the only ones watching.

RIP Donna Douglas played Ellie Mae Clampett of the Beverly hillbillies. She was 81.

Chicago Med has an order of 5 new episodes brings the total to 18.

RIP actress Rose Siggins. She lost both legs at age 2 and played Legless Suzi on American Horror Story: Freak Show. Died of complications of kidney surgery at age 43.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 has raised $6.3 million on Kickstarter for a 14 episode revival

Mike and Molly is not being renewed by CBS after the end of the current season.

Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as president United States for the upcoming series for ABC titled “Designated Survivor”.

TNT announced it is canceling Legends, Agent X, and Public Morals.

TNT announced it is renewing Major Crimes for season 5 and The Librarians for season 3.

NBC has canceled Neil Patrick Harris’s “Best Time Ever”. It most definitely did not live up to its name. I couldn’t get through half an episode.

Natalie Portman will play Jacqueline Kennedy in the upcoming movie titled “Jackie” about her life shortly after the JFK assassination

Fox is interested in starting a Latino drama series that is described as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. duh didn’t we already have West Side Story?

Vin Diesel is working on a development deal to bring his Riddick character to TV

“Fuller House” the Full House reunion show for Netflix will premiere 13 episode on February 26. The show picks up 21 years after the original but this time without the Olsen twins.

Sean Penn is scheduled to play Andrew Jackson in the upcoming HBO miniseries American Lion.

History Channel’s “Vikings” season 4 opens February 18 for a whopping 20 episodes.

Amazon series “Hand of God” has been renewed for season 2

Clint Eastwood will direct Tom Hanks in “Sully” about airline pilot Sully Sullenberger who landed an airplane in the Hudson River. Set to premiere September this year.

Sometime before season ends, Supergirl will battle her crazy doppelgänger Bizarro-Girl

RIP soap opera actress Patricia Elliott 877 played in One Life to Live.

RIP actor Brooke McCarter who played a vampire in the eighties movie “The Lost Boys”. He had a genetic liver condition and was 52.

From the “Did I already report this?” Department… ABC Family Channel is changing its name to Freeform.

Forbes magazine named Leonardo DiCaprio the most overpaid actor of the year.

RIP screenwriter George Clayton Johnson at 86. Cowrote Logan’s Run and the first episode of Star Trek

SyFy Channel has renewed “The Expanse” for season 2 and we are well pleased.

Un-aired episodes of ABC’s canceled after two weeks 80s crime drama “Wicked City” are now available online.

RIP actor Wayne Rogers 82. Played Trapper John on the TV series MASH.

RIP character actor Jason Wingreen age 95. He auditioned to play the voice of Yoda but ended up dubbing the voice of bounty hunter Boba Fete instead. He also played at bartender friend of Archie Bunker in All in the Family and Archie Bunker’s Place.

Michael Bay will direct Transformers 5 but says it will be his last time to direct the franchise.

No more DiNozzo . Michael Weatherly is leaving NCIS at the end of the season.

Inside Amy Schumer has been renewed for season 5 at Comedy Central

HBO series Girls premieres it’s fifth season. Announced season 6 will be at the last.

Hugh Laurie a.k.a. House M.D. will star in a 2 season 20 episode drama for Hulu Streaming. The show is titled “Chance” he plays the title character a forensic neuropsychiatrist.

Neil Degrasse Tyson talkshow “Star Talk” has been renewed for season 3 by National Geographic Channel

Daredevil season 2 will be released to Netflix on March 18

RIP actor Pat Harrington Jr. played handyman Dwayne Schneider on “One Day at a Time”

TNT announced Rizzoli and Isles will end after season 7

Gerald McCranie will join the cast of Castle for a multi-episode arc

The new season of Game of Thrones will premiere April 24. Talks are underway with HBO for season 7 & 8.

BBC America will have a Doctor Who Related six part series called Prey. It will be a pair of three episodes stories.

BBC America will be new series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Defense Agency based on the comic by Douglas Adams.

AMC announced that Fear The Walking Dead will premiere April 10 with a half season of seven episodes. The remaining 8 episodes will air later in 2016. AMC series “Turn: Washington Spies” and miniseries “Night Manager” a spy thriller will also premiere in April.

As if Michael Stranahan didn’t have enough to do on TV, he will host a reboot of $100,000 Pyramid game show for ABC

Hulu says that 11.22.63 based on Stephen King’s novel will have significant but authentic changes from that novel.

BBC America will air “Adele: Live in London” on Valentine’s Day.

Supergirl to appear on Supergirl. Laura Vandervoort who played Kara Zor-el in Smallville will play DC character Indigo in episode 15 of the CBS series Supergirl.

Showtime announced Shameless has been renewed for season 7.

Showtime series Penny dreadful season 3 will premiere May 1 and run nine episodes.

Showtime comedy” Episodes” season 5 will probably be its last

RIP character actor David Margulies at 78. You will remember him as the mayor of New York in Ghostbusters but he had a distinguished career in film and on Broadway as well.

Showtime’s Homeland season 6 will be set in New York City

Showtime’s Twin Peaks revival has been narrowed down to “early 2017”. Sherlyn Fenn is officially on board to reprise her character. Also one of David Lynch’s favorite actresses Laura Dern has joined the cast.

Simon Cowell is replacing Howard Stern for season 11 Of America’s Got Talent. Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Nick Cannon will return. The show is moving back to LA.

Jimmy Fallon will have a Tonight Show Valentines Day special in prime time and then he show will be in LA from February 15-19.

NBC announced Seth Myers contract for Late-Night with Seth Myers has been extended through February 2021

NBC is considering yet another Chicago spinoff series this time Chicago Law. We already have Police, Fire, and Med. Perhaps after that garbageman or meter maids.

USA Network announced Playing House is being renewed for season 3. I’ve never heard of it.

Fox has renewed “Empire” for a 3rd season and “Scream Queens” for a 2nd season.

RIP actor Dan Haggerty who played Grizzly Adams on TV. Age 74

Season 4 of “the Americans” will premiere March 16. Actress Keri Russell is pregnant in real life and will have to hide her baby bump in the latter part of the season.

After Jon Bernthal plays The Punisher in season 2 of Daredevil he may have more work to do. A Punisher spinoff series is under development at Netflix.

Netflix has announced season 2 of Unbreakable Kimimy Schmidt will arrive April 15. Season 3 has been approved.

Fox’s developing a new round of the TV series “24” which will not feature Jack Bauer/Kiefer Sutherland

RIP Rutledge and Glenn Frey one of the founders of the Eagles age 67.

After Playboy announced recently there would be no more nude photo spreads or centerfolds, Penthouse has also announced it’s getting out of the print magazine business altogether and going strictly digital.

Fox Frankenstein themed series Second Chance has been moved to the rating doldrums Friday night after just two episodes. Friday is where bad shows go to die.

We can expect more Bernie Sanders sketches on SNL. Larry David will be hosting the February 6 show

For Doctor Who Matt Smith will play controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe with Girls star Zosnia Mamet to plate Patti Smith

RIP veteran actor Abe Vigoda who played Lieutenant Fish on Bernie Miller

Netflix announced House of Cards has been renewed for season 5. Season 4 will premiere in March.

 

 

10 Alan Rickman movies to watch besides ‘Harry Potter’

 

Doctor Who Boss Steven Moffat Quits

Frank Miller returns to his ‘Dark Knight’ world

‘The Walking Dead’ EP Teases Rest Of Season 6, Negan, Glenn’s Fate & Ratings

Gotham Boss Weighs In on Gordon’s ‘Bad Deed,’ the Big Freeze Tease and ‘Horrendous’ Reveals to Come

How Weinstein Co. Distribution Chief Erik Lomis Rescued 70MM Cinema For Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Hateful Eight’

The Leftovers EP Damon Lindelof Answers Burning Finale Questions, Drops Big Season 3 Clue

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on The Flash, HTGAWM, Gilmore Girls, Walking Dead, Castle, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More

Quantico EP on the Bomber’s Identity, Ryan’s Sad Love Song and the Reveal That [Spoiler] ‘Definitely Is a Terrorist’

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on The 100, The Flash, NCIS, Castle, The Strain, Galavant, Supergirl, POI and More

Fargo Boss Talks Hanzee’s Season 1 Identity, Defends the Use of UFOs and Narrows Down Setting for Season 3

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Good Wife, Nashville, Big Bang, Gilmore Girls, Madam Secretary, NCIS and More

Jessica Jones’ Graphic Sex Scenes: Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter Kiss and Tell

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Scandal, Sleepy Hollow, Castle, The Flash, Once, Supernatural, Grey’s, Reign and More