The release today of the new Game of Thrones trailer is a stern reminder that I have not started my Game of Thrones re-watch yet. Is it unreasonable to think I could watch 2 seasons every weekend over the next few weeks?

Regardless… here’s the new (and last ever?) Game of Thrones trailer.

Michael Sheen signing on to a new pilot for Fox has me in two minds. First of all, it’s great to see him cast in what is hoped to be a new ongoing show. I really love Michael Sheen. But secondly, it does likely mean that his role in the upcoming season of The Good Fight is likely to be a one-season arc after-all. It had been billed as such, but part of me was hoping…

Written by Feder and Sklaver and directed by Lee Toland Krieger, Prodigal Son is described as a fresh take on a crime franchise with a provocative and outrageous lead character and darkly comedic tone. It centers on Malcolm Bright, who has a gift. He knows how killers think, how their minds work. Why? His father Martin Whitly (Sheen) was one of the worst — a notorious serial killer called “The Surgeon.” That’s why Bright is the best criminal psychologist around; murder is the family business. He will use his twisted genius to help the NYPD solve crimes and stop killers, all while dealing with a manipulative mother, annoyingly normal sister, a homicidal father still looking to bond with his prodigal son and his own constantly evolving neuroses.

Sheen’s Martin Whitly is intelligent, wealthy, charismatic — he also happens to be a predatory sociopath who murdered more than 20 people. Martin once was a devoted family man and successful cardiothoracic surgeon with high-profile patients.

Sheen joins previously announced series regulars Lou Diamond Phillips, Aurora Perrineau and Frank Harts.

Source: Deadline

A quick programming heads-up for those ABW subscribers in Australia, some very buzzy docos are airing this week:

  • Leaving Neverland, the 2-part doco about allegations of sexual abuse by Michael Jackson is airing on 10 this Friday/Saturday at 8:30pm
  • Free Solo, the Academy Award winning doco, airs this Sunday on Nat Geo at 7:30pm.

Joe Adalian at Vulture has a good write-up on what it means now that HBO is being absorbed into the larger WarnerMedia family. He’s particularly focused on the closer connection the channel will now have with TNT.

In the past, it wasn’t a big deal if HBO and TNT execs never talked to each other or even knew what the other was doing because their programming strategies never really overlapped. But now that their shows will all be blended together and pitched to consumers as one offering, AT&T execs to want to have one person lead “a more coordinated approach to the company’s original programming,” as WarnerMedia described it in a press release announcing the new corporate structure on Monday. This is why Greenblatt, in addition to overseeing HBO and the three aforementioned Turner cable networks, will also be in charge of the company’s streaming service via his new role as chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer. He’s there to make sure all of WarnerMedia’s adult-oriented, scripted TV brands are on the same page.

My assumption is that a lot of industry concern over this is overblown. HBO is the international brand of value. There’s no way that they’ll dilute the brand that heavily. If anything, it likely will mean an increase in the development time spent on some of the lower tier TNT shows. One could easily see shows like Animal Kingdom and I Am The Night appearing on HBO, only perhaps with some stronger network notes.

Source: Vulture

Are you ready for Nashville, the lavish Broadway musical based on the TV show of the same name?

“Nashville, with its complex, relatable characters and sweeping emotional gestures, has all of the narrative elements that I look for in great theatrical source material,” Delman said in a statement. “From that rich DNA, we will be building an original story with entirely original music written by major Nashville and Broadway songwriters. We are particularly excited to deliver Broadway’s first score of true contemporary country music — a genre that has exploded with mainstream audiences in recent years.”

Source: Rolling Stone

Ultraman is coming back to TV, this time as an anime series on Netflix.

And finally…

NBC sitcom Superstore has been renewed for a fifth season. The show isn’t amazing and is most certainly a show that desperately wants to be The Office. But there are regular laughs in it and the show has some really biting commentary about the working poor of the US.

Source: Variety