Less sex. More city.
And Just Like That is a new series coming to HBO Max. It returns three (of the four) lead characters from Sex & The City and catches up with them all in their 50s.
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Why not just call it Sex & The City? As this new show teaches us, once a woman passes 50, sex just isn’t as big a factor in their lives.
It’ll be a 10-episode series with Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis each returning with a $1 million per episode payday. Showrunner Michael Patrick King will also return.
Source: Variety
Gotham PD appoints its new Chief
Gotham PD has its new showrunner replacing Terrence Winter. Joe Barton, the creator of the excellent series Giri/Haji will now be running the show. The TV show is a tie-in to the 2022 film The Batman, with the spin-off exploring the police corruption plaguing Gotham City. It’ll feature many of the same actors and characters seen in the movie.
I’m super excited about this project - I love the idea of streaming platforms being able to expand the world of movies, giving us more time with supporting characters. It is one of the absolute strengths of comic book shared universes, so it makes all the sense to do it with a Batman movie. The news about Barton is very welcome - if you haven’t seen Giri/Haji, you’re really missing out.
Read: Variety
How long is a WandaVision?
Confirming something that I had assumed. New Marvel series WandaVision is leaning into its streaming environment with episodes of varying length. While early episodes will stick to sitcom-like 30 minute lengths, as the reality of the show starts to break down, episodes will start to get longer.
From TVLine:
Feige also cleared the air for us on WandaVision episode lengths, seeing as the first three episodes screened by the press on Friday all hovered around a half-hour, which frankly makes sense given the way the titular characters’ life is presented via fantastically faithful homages to sitcoms from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
Once the series begins to break away from that creative construct, as the close of Episode 3 most strongly suggests, running times “start to vary more, yes,” Feige assures TVLine.
“That’s one of the fun things about streaming — and even on the shows that I watch, as a fan: You don’t have the rules of network TV and selling ad time, where it has to start now and end now. [Episodes] can grow or shift or shrink or expand to fit the story you’re telling. Even in those first three, the lengths are somewhat different, and that will continue through the rest of the show.”
Sony to sell it’s Mando-like displays
When filming the Disney+ show The Mandalorian, instead of using green screens they are now using large video screens that displays the actual fake worlds created for the show. The actors actually have an environment to act within.
Sony are set to start selling similar displays commercially. Not only will you likely start seeing these used in other productions, but as the price starts to drop, expect to start seeing these screens used as displays at trade shows, corporate showrooms, lobbies, and customer experience centres. Resolution-wise, their C-Series screens offer 1,000,000:1.
It also gets everyday people one step closer to entire wall displays, just like The Jetsons promised.
Read: Sony
TeeVee Snacks
- The Lincoln Lawyer series has been picked up by Netflix. Read: TV Insider
- Danny Boyle is making a 6-episode series about The Sex Pistols for FX. Read: thefutoncritic
- Marvel is under pressure to retire The Punisher logo with the image being used by right-wing militia. Source: Screenrant
- Why is UK network ITV so obsessed with murder? Hint: It rates. Source: The Guardian
- CNN is changing its lineup, giving Jake Tapper more on-air time. Read: Variety
- Fox News is also shifting its daytime lineup, bouncing Martha MacCallum to afternoons. Read: Deadline
- TV producer Mike Richards was responsible for replacing Price Is Right host Bob Barker. His pick of Drew Carey was a success. Now he’s running Jeopardy! and he has a similar task ahead. Read: NYT
Buy David Hasselhoff’s KITT* (*Note: Not used in actual show)
Television great David Hasselhoff owns a replica of KITT, the car that he drove in the very popular Knight Rider series. And now he’s putting it up for auction. The replica car is in the UK. Currently bids are up to $500,000 and, apparently, if the auction price exceeds 25% of the reserve price, Mr Hasselhoff will personally deliver it to you.
Do I start a crowd-funding effort to win this car at auction? Or do I just try and up the limit on my credit card?
Buying KITT: $500,000. Making awkward small-talk with the star of Baywatch: Priceless.
Bid now: Live Auctioneers
VR brings back the most important of historical remnants
The incredible thing about VR is the way that it can bring to life ideas from the depth of our imaginations into an almost tangible existence. Similarly, moments lost to history can be lived once more. Considering the awesome power of this medium, today I report that you can now put on a VR headset and once again ride Disneyland’s defunct 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea attraction.
I do note that the attraction is still in operation at DisneySea in Japan - it may not be a great ride, but in Japan it feels delightfully oddball.
Trailer Park
Clarice debuts on Feb 11. The show is a Hannibal Lecter-less Silence of The Lambs spin-off.
Snowpiercer season 2 returns Jan 25.
Selena + Chef returns Jan 21 to HBO Max.
Nordic drama Beartown debuts on HBO Max on Feb 22. I have some friends who once visited Beartown, but based on the stories I’ve heard, I’m surprised this is TV-friendly.
Feature film Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar will go straight to premium VOD on Feb 12 in the US. I’m not sure about the plans for an Australian release for this Kristen Wiig comedy.
What’s next?
