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Weekend TidBits: The 100, Avatar 2, Game Of Thrones
by Doc on Mar.10, 2017, under Movies, Television
Just some catch-up stuff before the weekend…
The CW has completed their full house of returning shows, ordering a fifth season of The 100, so all its returning scripted shows that weren’t previously announced as ending have received early renewals for an additional season. Among it’s freshman series, however, the story is less rosy – Riverdale did get a second season, but No Tomorrow and Frequency seem unlikely.
Also, on the less rosy side, remember that little heard of movie Avatar? And the multiple sequels that were supposed to be out by now? Well, they are delayed again. Although James Cameron now says there are no less than FOUR sequels planned, Avatar 2 isn’t even going to make it’s latest planned date of December 2018. Cameron told the Toronto Star, “2018 is not happening,” mainly because they are making four movies, not one. But, “We’re full tilt boogie right now. This is my day job and pretty soon we’ll be 24-7.” I think it is safe to say Cameron is all-in on this, and it will be released when it is ready.
Lastly, we’ll be back in Westoros on July 16th…HBO finally announced that Season 7 will start on that date. If you are like me and HBO is the only channel you don’t get, expect a Season 6 marathon that weekend with a free preview… 🙂
Jason Isaacs takes the captain’s chair in Star Trek: Discovery
by Doc on Mar.07, 2017, under Television
The Starship Discovery has found its captain…Jason Isaacs, who recently appeared in the Netflix thriller series The OA and played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, will play Captain Lorca in the upcoming CBS All Access series, which began production a month ago. Although he is the captain, the series will focus on his “Number One” played by Sonequa Martin-Green.
CBS President Les Moonves is hopeful that the series will debut on the broadcast network this Fall, with it continuing on the streaming network afterwards.
Star Wars Rebels to return for fourth season
by Doc on Mar.03, 2017, under Television
To no one’s surprise, Disney XD has ordered up another season of adventures of the crew of the Ghost in Star Wars Rebels. The next season will air in the Fall, and production is already underway.
Set between the events of Episodes III and IV, the show follows the crew of the Ghost who have been fighting against the growing Empire. Season 3 saw increasing tie-ins to the live action movies, such as the appearance of a younger Saw Gerrera from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and a cameo appearance of the Ghost itself in that movie.
My top question still remains though…does Ahsoka live?
Casting TidBits: Syfy’s Happy!, ABC’s Marvel’s Inhumans, Amy Acker gets pilot
by Doc on Mar.03, 2017, under Television
It’s pilot happy season, and there have been some casting announcements:
Syfy has added Patrick Fischler (Lost, Once Upon A Time), Zabryna Guevara (Gotham, The Get Down) and Ritchie Coster (The Dark Knight, Blackhat) to the pilot for Happy!, based on the graphic novel from Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson. The show follows Nick Sax (Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU), an intoxicated, corrupt ex-cop turned hit man, who is adrift in a world of casual murder, soulless sex and betrayal. After a hit gone wrong, his inebriated life is forever changed by a tiny, relentlessly positive, imaginary blue winged horse.
Fischler will play Smoothie, a well-dressed mob enforcer and sardonic soulless torturer who claims to take a ‘New Age’ approach to his work.
Guevara is playing Amanda Hansen, a single mom facing every mother’s worst nightmare; the disappearance of her young daughter.
Coster is Mr. Blue/Leonardo Scaramucci, the lead villain whose wealth and status as a legitimate businessman in the wine import trade support an increasingly profitable and highly illegal sideline.
In another Marvel pilot, but for Fox, one of our favorites, Amy Acker, fresh off the final season of Person of Interest, will star in the unnamed X-Men-based show written by Matt Nix (Burn Notice) and directed by Bryan Singer. The show focuses on a family of human parents with mutant children, on the run from a mutant-hostile government. Acker will play mother Kate, who is struggling to deal with her separation from her husband Reed (Stephen Moyer, True Blood) and her increasingly challenging teenage children.
(continue reading…)
HotShot Trailer: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Trailer 2
by Doc on Mar.01, 2017, under Movies
It’s a gun thing…
Opens May 5th!
Syfy bankrupts Incorporated; Star Trek: Discovery expected by early Fall
by Doc on Feb.27, 2017, under Television
Syfy has canceled the Matt Damon/Ben Affleck produced Incorporated after just a single season. The hyped-up show failed to get hyped up ratings, averaging well below Syfy’s other flagship shows. Syfy is lining up pilots with four given green lights so far along with Superstition, which was given a straight-to-series order.
On the opposite side, CBS’ Les Moonves is very confident that the twice delayed Star Trek: Discovery will be ready to debut in early Fall and perhaps late Summer – and he understands the importance of the show to the network.Star Trek is the family jewels,” Moonves says. “We’re not going to rush it in. There’s a lot of post production. But I’m very confident based on what I’ve seen so far.”
Star Trek: Discovery was most recently delayed from a May release last month, given they hadn’t actually started filming yet. Filming started shortly after that announcement, so a Fall debut seems more realistic.
Meet the Doctor’s new companion in the latest trailer for Doctor Who
by Doc on Feb.27, 2017, under Television
Get to know Bill, the Doctor’s new companion, played by Pearl Mackie…she’ll meet the Doctor on April 15th at 9/8c on BBC America, followed by the spinoff Class.
Aliens, Titanic, Twister actor Bill Paxton passed away
by Doc on Feb.26, 2017, under Movies, Obituaries, Television
Breaking news – a family representative has released a statement that actor Bill Paxton passed away due to complications after surgery. He was 61.
It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery,” the statement said.
“A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker. Bill’s passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable. We ask to please respect the family’s wish for privacy as they mourn the loss of their adored husband and father.”
Bill starred in so many things where he made the role so memorable. The earliest I recall was Weird Science, where he played older brother Chet who would antagonize Wyatt to the point that he was turned into a giant talking turd by Lisa. Just a year later came the role that would make me look forward to anything else he did, as Private Hudson in Aliens, for which he won a Saturn award. While these roles seemed to point him towards playing the “lovable dumb guy”, he broke that by getting much more scientific as astronaut Fred Haise in Apollo 13 (co-winner of a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance of a Cast), storm chaser Bill Harding in Twister, and treasure hunter/deep sea explorer Brock Lovett in Titanic. My kids even remember him from the role of “Dinky Winks” in Spy Kids 2.
More recently he had a recurring guest role on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was currently appearing on the CBS cop show Training Day.
HotShot Trailer: Alien: Covenant prologue: “The Last Supper”
by Doc on Feb.23, 2017, under Movies
The colony ship Covenant, on its way to a distant planet to start a new human settlement carrying a crew of couples and an android named Walter (who looks remarkably like the android David in Prometheus), discover what they think is an idyllic paradise but instead turns out to be a dark and dangerous world.
In this prologue, the crew of the Covenant enjoy a little free time before they enter their long hypersleep on the way to their destination.
Alien: Covenant stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, amd Benjamin Rigby
TidBits: Doctor Who spinoff Class in US; renewal bubble watch; Syfy still looking at cosplay
by Doc on Feb.20, 2017, under Television
It’s a long weekend here, so here’s a few more tidbits:
In a conversation with Deadline, BBC America president and GM Sarah Barnett tiptoed around the discussion of who might be the new Doctor to replace Peter Capaldi, but did mention that the Doctor Who spinoff Class, which takes place at the Coal Hill School where there first moments of it’s parent program took place, will debut in the U.S. on April 15th.
On renewals/cancellations, it seems several freshman shows will not survive. Spies have been whispering to us since January that Aftermath will not see a second season and Syfy and SPACE have silently killed the show. Star James Tupper also tweeted, “So sad to report #Aftermath will not be getting a second season. #sobummed”. We were hoping for a renewal and though the ratings and the partnership between Syfy and SPACE would help. No formal pronouncement still, but sadly it seems unlikely.
Also on the bubble are the CW’s Frequency and NBC’s Timeless. Frequency did not have an option to pick up more episodes, leaving the first season at 13, and they did essentially conclude the first season storyline. However, the show is on Netflix now, where it might pick up eyes, but we’re thinking it likely will not return. The Timeless season finale airs tonight, and it’s teetering on the edge. It may depend on what NBC decides on other shows and how many slots are available.
Syfy is still looking for a formula to bring cosplay into the limelight, and it will try again with Cosplay Melee, hosted by self-described “super fangirl” Yvette Nicole Brown. Each week, four world class cosplayers compete to create not only intricate full-body costumes – but fully-formed characters that they must bring to life through their own realistic performance. Guiding and critiquing them are a panel of judges including world class cosplayer LeeAnna Vamp, and A-list costume creator, Christian Beckman (The Hunger Games, TRON: Legacy). At the end of every episode, the winner will walk away with $10,000 … and the right to claim cosplay supremacy.
“As a huge fan of the creativity cosplayers bring to their craft, nothing makes me happier than having a front row seat for the amazing creations set to hit the Cosplay Melee runway,” said host Brown. “These talented artists are going to shine!”