Comedy Central cancels long-running hits
Big changes coming to Comedy Central as it pivots with a focus on adult animated shows.
- Drunk History has been cancelled after six seasons despite a seventh previously announced. Not bad for a show that had a single joke premise. Source: THR
- Tosh.0 has been cancelled after 12 seasons. Daniel Tosh is shopping the series around to other outlets. One presumes he’ll find a buyer as the show is still popular enough and must cost next to nothing to make. Source: Deadline
This should hit the spot
The Girlfriend Experience is back for a third season. And what more, it has already started production in London. The third season of the show, which is less sexy than you’d expect (but it’s still got a bit of sexy stuff in it), will star Julia Goldani Telles (Bunheads, The Affair) as Iris - a young neuroscientist on the London tech scene who begins to explore the transactional world of The Girlfriend Experience.
Again the series is being used as a showcase for a female indie filmmaker with the ten-episode series written and directed by Anja Marquardt (She’s Lost Control).
Source: Deadline
Trailer Park
November 15. That’s when The Crown returns for its fourth season.
The Right Stuff TV series will debut on Disney+ on Oct 9.
Somebody get me to the hell-scape that is Los Angeles
This looks seriously fun. An immersive drive-through experience is being staged in LA that will take attendees through the world of Stranger Things.
The audience will be safely quarantined in their cars as they drive into scenes with special effects and actors staging moments inspired by the series.
Some of the set pieces at the hourlong experience will include recreations of the Starcourt Mall, Upside Down and the Russian Labs. Visual and auditory aspects will also be set up to reflect the 1980s setting, and some of the show’s characters will make appearances.
There had better be a full performance of The Neverending Story with Dustin and the Phoebe Cates lookalike Suzie…
Source: Variety
Blast off with Moonbase 8
A new half-hour workplace comedy Moonbase 8 has been picked up by Showtime. It will star co-creators Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, and John C. Reilly.
[The show] revolves around three subpar astronauts who have high hopes of being chosen to travel to the moon. Set in the isolated desert of Winslow, Arizona at NASA’s Moon Base Simulator, it follows eager astronauts Skip (Armisen), Rook (Heidecker) and their leader Cap (Reilly) as they attempt to qualify for their first lunar mission. While working vigorously to complete their training, a series of unexpected circumstances forces the astronauts to question their own mental sanity, trust in each other and whether or not they’re cut out for space travel.
Moonbase 8 has already been filmed. It was independently financed by A24 and taken out to networks only after it was already in the can. A broadcast date hasn’t been announced yet, but it is expected within the coming 2-3 months.
Source: Deadline
Everybody knows your name
I was enthused to see yesterday that Cheers is debuting on Australian streamer Stan. The show is widely available on international streaming services, but has only been available here on the streaming ghetto that is 10 All Access.
Hopefully its inclusion on Stan will open up the viewership for the almost 40 year-old comedy. What’s great about Cheers is that outside of the occasional episode, it doesn’t feel dated at all and the fashions of the era are in line with what people are wearing today. It has aged remarkably well.
Tone is everything in marketing
Netflix have a new indie film from France debuting in September called Cuties. It is a satirical look at the sexualisation of children through the pop culture they consume. The film played at Sundance earlier this year.
When it came to the promotional art for the film, Netflix messed up big-time. I haven’t seen the film, but having read a few reviews now, it seems like this poster makes all the sense in the world as a knowing wink to the attitude of the film. But if you haven’t seen the film or know anything about it, the first time you see this poster it just seems super gross.
Understandably, people began posting some savage criticisms of this on social media.
This is the promo art in question:
This was the, far more sedate, tonally acceptable French poster for the film:
Netflix has issued an apology and will roll-out new art.
Source: Deadline
TeeVee Snacks
- WarnerMedia is investigating claims of abuse on the set of its feature film Justice League by director Joss Whedon. Source: Deadline
- Speaking of Justice League, a trailer for original director Zack Snyder’s HBO Max version of the film will debut this weekend at the DC Fandome streaming event.
- There’s been an exodus of writers from the not-very-good-but-kinda-watchable CBS courtroom drama All Rise. Writers were unhappy with the way the show approached race and gender on-screen. Read: NYT
- Brian Stelter’s book about the relationship between Fox News and El Presidente Trump looks like it’ll be wild. The Hannity/Trump relationship especially… Read: Vanity Fair
‘twas the night (well, morning) before Tenet
Earlier this week Always Be Watching published the ticket sales for the highly anticipated Christopher Nolan film Tenet. Pre-sales ahead of its debut in Australia had been poor after just a few days.
Tenet starts screening in Australia from 9:45am tomorrow morning (Saturday) and will be one of the very first territories to screen the film. How are sales looking?
Looking at the same two sessions I cited earlier this week..
The Bondi Junction 9:45am session (the very first session of the day anywhere) actually has two-less tickets sold for the session. Did they get a refund, or just move their session using Event Cinemas online tool?
The 7:40pm evening session at Bondi Junction is certainly more full than it was earlier this week. But it still hasn’t sold all of the available seats. They’ve only sold 58 seats for their biggest screen on a Saturday night for what was expected to be the most anticipated film of the year.
Again, I chose Bondi Junction to look at as it is an urban, densely populated area with a lot of young people in the area.
What’s next?
