Always Be Watching prides itself as the go-to destination for news and information related to the NXIVM cult. A docuseries based on the wild story of how Chloe from Smallville wound up branding women as part of a sex cult debuts on August 23 on HBO.
Today… there’s a trailer for The Vow. This is WILD.
Trump vs a higher loyalty
The new two-part mini-series The Comey Rule, based on former FBI Director James Comey’s memoir A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership debuts on Sept 27. The first images and teaser trailer from the mini have been released, showing off its cast.
Irish actor Brendan Gleeson portrays the current US President, with Jeff Daniels as Comey and Holly Hunter as former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates.
Watch the teaser trailer:
Netflix quackery with Zac Efron
Is new Netflix series Down To Earth with Zac Efron the boys version of Goop? Shaky pseudo-science for an unquestioning audience who prize ‘wellness’ above common sense?
Vice’s Maggie Lange has criticised Netflix’s shows that focus on health and wellness, attacking them for scientific illiteracy and spreading misinformation.
Nitpicking the show, while very easy, isn't really my point. My concern is that the show has abysmal factual standards and a relationship to reality that’s faulty at best. And when you’re dealing with the subject of health, accuracy is not inconsequential.
“There is all this pseudoscience sprinkled throughout,” Jonathan Jarry, a science communicator who combats pseudoscience as his profession for McGill’s Office for Science and Society, told VICE. “It reaches a critical mass in the water episode. I stumbled on Down to Earth when I was on vacation,” Jarry said, “It ruined my vacation for that day.”
Read: Vice
CBS All Access revamp emerges
3500 shows from across the Viacom network of channels BET, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon will be added to CBS All Access ahead of its rebrand in 2021. This will include shows like Single Ladies, Chappelle Show, Laguna Beach, Rugrats, and RuPaul's Drag Race.
Something that I think is worth noting: It is expected that the rebranded service will operate in Australia where ViacomCBS already operate 10 All Access. When that happens, will the media company try and maintain a similar content offering across every territory it is in, or will there be regional differences? The hot topic locally has been that the service will also include content from Showtime, which doesn’t appear to be the case at all for the US version of the service. The answer to that question will be telling about how ViacomCBS are approaching international distribution: It’s a house of brands in the US, but overseas is there less value in those brands with more of an emphasis on a wider content offer.
Source: THR
The Green Hornet strikes back
Kevin Smith is working with Wildbrain on an animated series based on the Green Hornet IP that it controls the rights to.
The series will be set in contemporary times, following the adventures of a re-imagined Green Hornet and Kato – now the grown son of the original Green Hornet and the daughter of the original Kato – as they partner to battle crime in Century City. It will also feature the Green Hornet’s ultra-high-tech car, Black Beauty.
Source: Deadline
Here is a clip of Bruce Lee, who played Kato in the 60s TV series Green Hornet, putting the beat-down on some hoodlums:
Speaking of Bruce Lee…
Back in the day, Bruce Lee had a TV show idea he was trying to get greenlit around Hollywood. No one bought it, but his idea was “adapted” by others to become the TV show Kung-Fu. Last year his original pitch saw the light of day as the action adventure show Warrior.
The trailer for season 2 has dropped today:
Quick bites
- Damon Wayans is reteaming with Happy Endings creator David Caspe for a bounty hunter action comedy. Yes please. Source: Deadline
- Crimson Rivers season 3 is back in production in France. Source: Le Blog
- Leah Remini will host a crossword-based game show, Puzzler. The format rights for Brisbane community TV classic Crazy Crosswords are still up for grabs, incidentally. Source: Deadline
- Variety has an analysis of Aussie streamer Stan and its position in the market. Read: Variety
- Seven West Media has renegotiated its $750 million debt. Source: SMH
What’s next?
