The first 5 minutes of Lanterns. And that's all I'm (unfortunately) allowed to say about this (whispers: very good) show
Back in 2011 there was a Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds that STUNK. It was exceptionally awful. As I walked out of the cinema, I was pretty certain that we would never see another Green Lantern movie. How can a character come back from that?
It was a shame because GL is one of those great, fully realised sci-fi superhero concepts that is also fairly flexible with the sorts of storytelling possible. It could be a cosmic space opera, it could be a cop drama, it is sometimes just weirdo conceptual sci-fi, and it can be an earthbound romance. And within all of those spaces, there are so many different approaches one can take.
This Sunday evening in the US (Monday lunchtime for us here in Australia), Green Lantern is getting another shot at a screen adaptation. This time it is an HBO TV show starring Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, Early Edition) alongside relative newcomer Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad, Rebel Ridge) as Green Lantern cops Hal Jordan and John Stewart.
Kelly Macdonald (Dept Q, Giri/Haji) is in this too as a regular ol’ human cop, with Nathan Fillion (The Rookie, Firefly, Two Guys and a Girl) as slimeball Green Lantern Guy Gardner (reprising his role from the recent Superman movie and TV show Peacemaker).
One of the creators of the show is Damon Lindelof. I can’t say much more than that, but I’d strongly advise that people who watched his HBO Watchmen series and were very much impressed with that (I’m in that camp) should very much keep that in mind.
The review embargo doesn’t break until late tonight Australian time (9am eastern time on Friday in the US), so I can’t post the review I am very keen to publish. Instead, I’ll save that for the Always Be Streaming newsletter, which will be going out late tonight.
What I can do is post this promotional video HBO have put out with the first five minutes of the show. Why reviews can’t be out there to accompany this is a bit baffling.
News Desk
Paramount chief David Ellison is weighing moving CBS News out of New York — potentially selling the CBS Broadcast Center — as added leverage in his fight with attorneys general Rob Bonta and Letitia James over the $110 billion Warner Bros. merger. Read: New York Post
Ted Lasso‘s fourth-season premiere became Apple TV’s biggest launch ever, drawing 296.6 million viewing minutes and outpacing the likes of Severance and Pluribus. Read: The Hollywood Reporter
Netflix is shutting down Oxenfree developer Night School Studio — just six weeks after launching highly-promoted new horror game Unhinged — along with Helsinki’s Moonloot, as it retreats from in-house game development. Read: Variety
HBO Max has passed on American Blue, a Milo Ventimiglia cop-drama pilot built on the annual model of The Pitt. Warner Bros. Television is shopping it elsewhere. Read: Variety
David Letterman will host Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and Jimmy Kimmel in a seventh season of Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, returning before year’s end. How has it taken this long for Letterman to interview Julia Roberts on the new show? Read: Variety
Peter Capaldi is joining Only Murders in the Building‘s London-set sixth season, reuniting him with David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker — all three former leads of children’s sci-fi caper Doctor Who. Read: Radio Times
Limited series TV star Nicole Kidman has revealed AMC gave her a lifetime A-List membership for her ridiculous cinema ad. Read: TheWrap
Christy Knowings, a cast member on Nickelodeon’s All That in the late 1990s, has died at 46 after an asthma attack led to brain damage. Read: Variety
PBS has renewed Hope in the Water, the ocean-and-food docuseries from David E. Kelley and chef Andrew Zimmern, for a second season. Who knew this even existed? Read: Deadline
Samsung TV Plus has renewed Hooligans: The ARCH Racing Project, its motorcycle-racing docuseries with Keanu Reeves and Gard Hollinger, for a second season. Who knew this even existed? Read: Deadline
Stan’s medical drama The F Ward, starring Anna Friel, has sold to 100 territories. It is said to be the fastest pre-launch sale ever for an Australian drama. Read: IF
Fifty Canadian film and TV bodies have urged PM Mark Carney to “stand firm” on rules requiring foreign streamers to fund local content, amid fears the Online Streaming Act will be gutted in US trade talks. Read: C21Media
Alia Shawkat says she’s trying to reunite with Mae Whitman and bring their early-2000s series State of Grace to streaming, though its pricey ‘60s soundtrack is a hurdle. Read: Deadline
Trailer Park
MobLand returns for season 2 on Paramount+ on Sept 18.
Chad Powers returns for season 2 on Hulu on Sept 3.
American Horror Story: 13 returns for season 13 on FX and Hulu on Sept 24.
The Terrors of Jordan Mendoza is coming soon to Adult Swim.
A very scared man navigates a barrage of absurd, terrifying and hilarious dreamscapes in this genre-bending sketch comedy.
Megan and Cupcake Ready for Preschool debuts on Disney Jr. and Disney+ this fall.
Emmy-winning puppeteer Megan Piphus Baptist and her puppet sidekick Cupcake teach preschoolers early-learning concepts through hands-on activities in this hybrid live-action and animated series.
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again? debuts on Netflix on Sept 9.
The third film in Perry’s franchise reunites the couples for the destination wedding of Marcus and Angela’s daughter, where old dramas resurface and new ones brew.
Death of the Pastor’s Wife debuts on Netflix on Aug 26.
A three-part true-crime series examining the life and mysterious death of Mica Miller, wife of pastor John-Paul Miller, and the fight for answers that continues today.
Mom Knows Best debuts on Netflix August 26.
In this new reality show format, nine mothers secretly bet on the choices their adult children will make, putting their familial bonds to the test.
Coven Academy debuts on Freeform on Oct 1, then Disney+ and Hulu the next day.
Three teenage witches and their warlock peers navigate power, secrets and forbidden romance at an elite magic boarding school in New Orleans.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
Consider becoming a paid supporter of Always Be Watching.
Connect with Dan on Bluesky. Connect with Dan on Letterboxd. Connect with Dan on Linkedin. Challenge him on the NYT word game Crossplay. Email Dan @ alwaysbewatching.com or just reply to this email.
