Up until now the Studio Ghibli film library was not available to stream anywhere. The animation company chose to lean on theatrical screenings (through initial film releases and film festivals/special event cinema programming) and physical media releases. But times change and the company has signed a deal with HBO Max.
Source: Polygon
The world has obviously been calling out for a Clueless reboot. You can just feel it in the air… right?
CBS TV Studios has one in the works. But… with a twist! This will be a Riverdale-inspired mystery show where the characters deal with the disappearance of Cher - the lead character from the film.
How does Dionne deal with the pressures of being the new most popular girl in school, while also unraveling the mystery of what happened to her best friend, all in a setting that is uniquely 2020 L.A.?
I think Cher said it best: “As if”.
Source: Deadline
Colbert has signed a new contract with CBS and will remain host of The Late SHow until 2023. That’s just one year shy of the conclusion of Trump’s second term….
Source: TV Line
If you’re looking for another adaptation of a Stephen King book, might I interest you in HBO’s The Outsider starring Ben Mendelsohn and Jason Bateman?
It seemed like a lifetime ago that Sons of Anarchy was the biggest show on TV. SPin-off series Mayans MC has never really picked up the same traction. Creator Kurt Sutter has today been fired from Mayans due to what is believed to be bad behaviour.
Sutter wrote in an email to those on the production:
“It’s been reported by writers, producers, cast and crew that my absence and subsequent behavior when there, has only created confusion, chaos, hostility and is perceived as abandonment,” he wrote. “Or at least that’s how Disney has interpreted it. I’m sure it’s true.”
“This morning I was fired by Dana Walden and John Landgraf for all the complaints levied against me,” he continued. “Not the way I wanted to end my 18 year relationship with FX. At least being fired for being an abrasive dick is on brand.”
Source: Variety
Today I was going to post to one of the MANY very positive reviews of new HBO series Watchmen. It is based off the medium-redefining comic book from the 80’s and continues on the story from that comic. But, you don’t have to have read the comic to understand what is going on in the show.
Instead of posting a review, I will instead post what I thought was a pretty interesting quote from series showrunner Damon Lindeloff. The comic was very much interested in examining the ground-level humanity behind superheroes and it appears the series is taking this idea and running with it:
“The questions we wanted to explore were, why aren’t there any conversations about race happening in the superhero genre outside of ‘Black Panther’? Why does Don Cheadle have to cover every single part of his skin, and so does Black Panther, when all the white superheroes, we get to see their faces?” says Lindelof. “And most importantly, in an entire century of superhero storytelling, what happened to the Black superheroes? Did any of them make a go of it and because of racism they were pushed to the side? Because that is what would have happened in real life.”
Enter Angela Abar (Regina King).
Source: Variety
There is also an incredibly good interview with Damon Lindeloff at Rolling Stone talking with Alan Sepinwall.
The first issue of Watchmen is quite shocking. It’s very violent. And it felt adult. I was 13 years old. I had not yet seen any real pornography. Maybe I saw a Playboy. The sensation of reading Watchmen was not dissimilar: “This isn’t for me.” The idea that this was a comic book and it wasn’t for me, because I was a kid, fried my brain a bit. Just trying to understand what Rorschach is saying in his journal, it made me a little bit dizzy. It felt more real than any of the comic books I had read before. As a 13-year-old, I knew that Richard Nixon was not the president of the United States, but there were other things where I wasn’t sure when we were in alt-history and when we were in actual history. I think that my introduction to the idea of what rape is was with Watchmen. And that’s [in] the second issue. I was like, “Oh, Sally’s being attacked by the Comedian. He’s just a mean guy.” I literally didn’t get that she was being sexually assaulted until probably a couple of years later.
Source: Rolling Stone
Production on the Mad About You revival continues despite the car accident yesterday involving Helen Hunt. An SUV she was riding in was involved in a crash which saw the vehicle flipped over.
Source: Deadline
The Sinner season 3 has a trailer. It returns in 2020.
And finally…
Soon-to-launch mobile-focused streaming service Quibi has signed a content deal with Rotten Tomatoes and E!.
My initial thoughts: ugh.
My more developed thought: Quibi are expecting people to pay for a service that just seems to offer the same filler content large brands are already creating while chasing audiences on YouTube and Facebook Watch?
Source: Deadline
