Nichelle Nichols, the TV icon known for playing Lt Nyota Uhura on Star Trek, has passed away aged 89. As an African American actor on a high profile US TV series, the role of Uhura for Nichols was always highly political. At no point moreso than an episode of the original series where she and William Shatner shared the first lip-to-lip interracial kiss on US TV.

Nichelle Nichols, Uhura in ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 89
Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Uhura on the original “Star Trek” series, died Saturday night in Silver City, N.M. She was 89 years old. Nichols’ death was …
VarietyCarmel Dagan

The barely hidden treasure of Tomb Raider

For whatever reason, MGM has chosen not to go ahead and exercise its rights to make a sequel to its 2018 Tomb Raider film.

Reportedly, there is now a bidding war underway for the rights to Tomb Raider. My initial assumption was that Netflix would be bidding up a storm for the rights, but in thinking that through... I'm not sure that would necessarily be the case. Would Netflix be interested in acquiring the rights to a film series based on a video game where it couldn't also exploit the IP to create a mobile game or take some profit participation fee from the video game?

Right now we have every major media company thinking about the metaverse and in back room deals for large gaming publishers (Electronic Arts and talks with both Disney & NBCUniversal are a great example of this). What value is Tomb Raider if you don't also control the game rights? Tomb Raider's fortunes might be different had Square Enix not sold the IP earlier this year for what seems to be a very low $300 million.

Tomb Raider Bidding War Erupts as MGM Loses Film Rights
MGM has lost the film rights to “Tomb Raider,” based on the popular video game, sparking a bidding war for the IP.
TheWrapUmberto Gonzalez

Max Headroom getting a soft-reboot

Halt & Catch Fire EP Christopher Cantwell will reboot and showrun a new Max Headroom series that will bring back Matt Frewer as the titular lead character.

‘Max Headroom’ Series Reboot Starring Matt Frewer In Works At AMC Networks From Christopher Cantwell & Elijah Wood’s SpectreVision
EXCLUSIVE: A 1980s pop culture mainstay is plotting a comeback. AMC Networks is developing a Max Headroom drama series reboot, with Matt Frewer set to reprise his role as the world’s first ar…
DeadlineNellie Andreeva

If you are like me and know that Max Headroom is a thing that happened on TV, but didn't really understand what it was (I was just a few years too young to really be across it. Plus is it possible that we never actually got the show here in Australia?), Vanity Fair has a good article that explains it a bit:

Max Headroom, The Strange Pre-Internet AI Phenomenon, Is Getting Rebooted
Christopher Cantwell and Elijah Wood are plugging Matt Frewer back into the mainframe.
Vanity FairCondé Nast

Happy birthday George Jetson

July 31, 2022 was the official date of birth for The Jetsons lead character George Jetson. We are now officially living in the future. I am not a financial expert, but it seems to me that now is a great time to invest in Spacely's Sprockets shares.

George Jetson Will Be Born This Sunday July 31, 2022, According to Hanna-Barbera Show’s Lore
The future is now! Expect to be living on platform cities in the next 30 to 40 years.
IndieWireChristian Zilko

The north star of Murder She Wrote

Lots of people will reference Agatha Christie when discussing Murder She Wrote. But the classic 80s TV show reportedly sought to avoid Agatha Christie-style storytelling and instead used The Maltese Falcon as its inspiration.

There's very little of Jessica Fletcher doing traditional detective procedural work. Rather, interpersonal conflict ensues while Fletcher observes and mediates, and clues are mostly revealed to her and to the viewer in the course of other events. Hardboiled in a dowager disguise, Mrs. Fletcher is independent-minded and free of sentimentality, always ready to take a dispassionate stand for truth.
The cozy “Maltese Falcon”: How “Murder, She Wrote” reinvented mysteries forever
As the author of “A Killing in Costumes,” I play detective to discover the origins of the cozy mystery genre I love
Salon.comZac Bissonnette

Fox news snubbing Trump

It was been 100 days since Donald Trump was interviewed on Fox News. Furthermore, the 'news' network has repeatedly broadcast live speeches and interviews with other prominent Republican politicians ahead of broadcasting any of Trump's live rallies or speeches.

Fox News, Once Home to Trump, Now Often Ignores Him
The former president hasn’t been interviewed on the Rupert Murdoch-owned cable network in more than 100 days, and other Republicans often get the attention he once did.
NYTimesBy
  • Upon hearing news of a spin-off TV series about the family of Drago, Rocky V star Sylvester Stallone says he never wanted to see his characters exploited. Read: Variety
  • RIP Burt Metcalfe, the former actor-turned M*A*S*H* producer was 87. Read: THR
  • HBO max cancelled youth family series The Gordita Chronicles, stating that it plans to exit the live-action family TV space. Read: Deadline
  • Gwyneth Paltrow says that nepotism babies need to work twice as hard to make it in Hollywood. I'm not sure anyone ever talks about this, but my hot take is that Ms Paltrow is a bit dovorced from reality. Read: Indiewire
  • The Paul Haggis sexual assault trial has been dismissed by an Italian court. Read: Variety
  • The BBC is in talks to revive Gladiators. That is a great, not-at-all-tired idea. Read: Deadline
  • Netflix is suing the producers of a Bridgerton musical for staging 'for profit' performances using their IP. Read: THR

The Little Demon debuts August 25 on FX.

A big start to the week. Let us chat again tomorrow.