Year: 2015

What’s The CW going to be giving us in Fall 2015-16

14 May 2015 Rob Buckley 10 Comments

It’s the turn of the last of the main broadcast networks to show us what’s up its sleeves for the 2015-16 season – yes, here comes The CW! Now, if you’ve been paying attention over the past few years, you’ll have noticed three things:

  1. The CW, which was traditionally a network intent only on serving teenage girls and young women the likes of Gossip Girl and vampire things, has slowly been trying to get boys to watch as well, with shows such as Supernatural*.
  2. It’s been doing big ratings with DC superhero shows.
  3. It still does the girl-thing really well*

So you shouldn’t be too surprised to see among The CW’s three new shows (yes, just three) a DC superhero show, a scary show, and a show for girls that’s also a bit for boys, too, and is pretty well done.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
A group of heroes and villains from The CW’s other big DC superhero shows, Arrow and The Flash, spin off and form their own group in order to save the world from the immortal Vandal Savage and his army. They know they have to because Rory from Doctor Who comes back from the future to tell them they have to.

Among the line-up are Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, who have been playing brothers again over on The Flash, albeit villainous, very camp ones; Victor Garber (Alias, Legally Blonde, Deception, Eli Stone, Justice), who’s another Flash escapee, having played one half of Firestorm, although his other half (Robbie Amell) is noticeably missing here; and Brandon Routh – Superman in Superman Returns – has of course been doing sterling work as The Atom over on Arrow for the past season and actually now has his miniaturisation abilities.

More interestingly, Caity Lotz is back (yay!) as a Canary – the White one this time – despite having been killed off quite seriously at the start of Arrow’s third season and we have the completely new addition of Golden Age Hawk Girl (Ciara Renée). Arthur Darvill’s quite fun as ‘Rip Hunter’, and the villain is Vandal Savage, who’s a big name in both the comic books and the DC animated movies but so far hasn’t shown up in a live action piece.

Overall, it’s clear there’s been a marked progression over the years with the three series, from quite dark with aspects of fun in Arrow to cheesy fun that’s occasionally dark in The Flash to pretty much full on high comic book camp here. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Containment
Based on the Belgian TV series Cordon (coming to BBC4 soon), this sees a lethal virus break out in the US, resulting in a huge urban quarantine in Atlanta. Except – because it’s originally Belgian (cf Salamander) – there’s also a government conspiracy. Mostly, all a big soapy drama of not much excitement, in which everyone has to decide whether to do the right thing or not by their family, the law, little Timmy the cat, et al.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Following on from the success of the format-busting and decidedly meta Jane The Virgin, we have Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, in which 10 years after a girl is dumped by her boyfriend, she bumps into him in New York and, deciding she had the happiest time of her life with him, follows him as he moves to Los Angeles, hoping to rekindle their romance – while ignoring a far more obvious and more suitable guy right in front of her. Except her ex really just isn’t that into her and has a girlfriend anyway, but that’s not stopping her.

Coming from the director of 500 Days of Summer and with animated sequences, musical numbers and more, this is actually quite a funny, innovative-looking little piece that could go pretty much anywhere, so I’m certainly going to be giving it a try.

*Yes, I know that’s stereotypes – and I did watch Gossip Girl, myself – but if you look at the demographics, that’s what was happening on average.

US TV

What’s CBS going to be giving us in Fall 2015-6?

14 May 2015 Rob Buckley 8 Comments

With CBS once-again stacked so full of shows that it hardly needs to commission any new ones, there’s actually very little for it to present at this year’s upfronts – only five newbies. First, the descriptions, then after the jump, some ridiculously long trailers and my random snarkinganalysis of CBS’s attempts to appeal to an audience that can’t remember the original run of Mr Ed.

Angel From HellAngel From Hell
When over-the-top Amy enters Allison’s organized but imperfect life and claims to be her guardian angel, they form an unlikely friendship and Allison can’t be sure if Amy is actually an angel or just nuts.
Writer/EP: Tad Quill (Bent, Scrubs)
Director/EP: Don Scardino (2 Broke Girls, Rescue Me, 30 Rock)
Co-EP: Jane Lynch
Cast
Amy: Jane Lynch (Glee, Two and a Half Men, The 40 Year-Old Virgin)
Allison: Maggie Lawson
Marv: Kevin Pollak
Brad: Kyle Bornheimer

Code BlackCode Black
Inspired by the award-winning documentary, this medical drama is set in the busiest and most notorious ER in the nation where the extraordinary staff confront a challenged system in order to protect their ideals and the patients who need them the most.
Writer/EP: Michael Seitzman (Intelligence, North County)
Director/EP: David Semel (Madam Secretary, Person of Interest)
EP/NW: Ryan McGarry (Code Black documentary)
EP/NW: Marti Noxon (Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, Grey’s Anatomy)
EP/NW: Linda Goldstein-Knowlton (Code Black documentary, Whale Rider)
Cast:
Leanne Rorish: Marcia Gay Harden (Fifty Shades of Grey, The Newsroom)
Jesse Salander: Luis Guzman (How to Make it in America, Boogie Nights)
Neal Hudson: Raza Jaffrey (Homeland, Smash)
Mario Savetti: Benjamin Hollingsworth (Backstrom, Cult)
Christa Lorenson: Bonnie Sommerville (Golden Boy, Cashmere Mafia)
Malaya Pineda: Melanie Kannokada (NCIS: Los Angeles, Parenthood)
Angus Leighton: Harry M. Ford
Rollie Guthrie: William Allen Young (Good Luck Charlie, District 9)

LimitlessLimitless
Picking up post the events of the film, a man discovers the power of a mysterious drug which allows him to access 100% of his brain, and he is coerced into using his newfound drug-enhanced abilities for good.
Writer/EP: Craig Sweeny (Elementary, Medium)
Director/EP: Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man, 500 Days of Summer)
EP/NW: Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Scorpion, Hawaii Five-0)
EP/NW: Heather Kadin (Scorpion, Sleepy Hollow)
EP/NW: Bradley Cooper (American Sniper, American Hustle)
EP/NW: Todd Phillips (The Hangover franchise, Due Date)
EP/NW: Ryan Kavanaugh (21 and Over, Out of the Furnace)
EP/NW: Tucker Tooley (21 and Over, Out of the Furnace)
EP/NW: Tom Forman (48 Hours Mystery, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition)
Cast:
Brian Finch: Jake McDorman (American Sniper, Shameless)
Rebecca Harris: Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, Gone)
Nasreen ‘Naz’ Pouran: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Grimm, The Perfect Storm)
Boyle: Hill Harper (Covert Affairs, CSI: NY)
Guest Cast:
Eddie Mora: Bradley Cooper (American Sniper, Silver Linings Playbook)

Life In PiecesLife In Pieces
A comedy about one family told through the separate stories of its various family members.
Writer/EP: Justin Adler (Better Off Ted, Samantha Who?)
Director/EP: Jason Winer (Modern Family)
EP/NW: Aaron Kaplan (The Mysteries of Lauren, Friends with Better Lives)
Cast:
Matt: Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom, Wild, The Slap)
Joan: Dianne Wiest (In Treatment, Hannah & Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway)
John: James Brolin (Castle, Catch Me If You Can, Traffic)
Jen: Zoe Lister-Jones (New Girl, Whitney)
Greg: Colin Hanks (Fargo, Dexter, Band of Brothers)
Heather: Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad, Parenthood, Masters of Sex)
Tim: Dan Bakkedahl (Veep, The Daily Show, The Mindy Project)
Colleen: Angelique Cabral (Enlisted, NCIS: Los Angeles, Friends with Benefits)
Tyler: Niall Cunningham
Samantha: Holly J. Barrett
Sophia: Giselle Eisenberg

SupergirlSupergirl
Born on the plant Krypton, Kara Zor-El escaped amid its destruction years ago with her famous cousin. Now at the age 24, she finally embraces her superhuman abilities to be the hero she was always meant to be.
Writer/EP: Greg Berlanti (The Flash, Arrow)
Writer/EP: Ali Adler (The New Normal, Glee)
Writer/EP: Andrew Kreisberg (The Flash, Arrow)
Director: Glen Winter (The Flash, Arrow)
EP/NW: Sarah Schechter (The Flash, Mysteries of Laura)
Cast:
Kara Danvers/Supergirl: Melissa Benoist (Whiplash, Glee)
Cat Grant: Calista Flockhart (Brothers and Sisters, Ally McBeal)
Alex Danvers: Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy, Taxi Brooklyn)
Hank Henshaw: David Harewood (Homeland, Blood Diamond)
James Olsen: Mehcad Brooks (Necessary Roughness, True Blood)

Continue reading “What’s CBS going to be giving us in Fall 2015-6?”

What TNT and TBS (and Adult Swim) are going to give us in Fall 2015-6

14 May 2015 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Continuing with this year’s upfronts, today it’s the turn of sister channels TNT and TBS. Former Fox boss Kevin Reilly has a twofold plan: produce more original output on TNT that isn’t safe procedurals; and raise TBS’s profile through a complete revamp. As TBS is more or less non-existent apart from Conan O’Brien and some really terrible comedies, the latter is a pretty good strategy, and since ‘TNT – bang’ seemed to work out so well last year, it’s hard to quibble with it this year.

Unfortunately, neither TNT nor TBS has decided to produce any trailers for their new shows (yet), so I’m afraid all I can give you is their descriptions. Just for luck, I’ll also give you an Adult Swim show starring Jason Alexander.

TNT
The Alienist
The Alienist is a fast-paced and atmospheric psychological thriller set in the fascinating and gritty world of Gilded Age New York City. After a series of haunting and gruesome murders, psychiatrist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, newspaper reporter John Moore and police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt come together employing emerging disciplines of psychology and early crime investigation techniques to track down one of New York City’s first serial killers.

The eight episode limited series is based on the New York Times bestseller by Caleb Carr and hails from True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga, Eric Roth and Hossein Amini. The project is set up at TNT Originals, Paramount Television and Anonymous Content. The executive producers are Cary Fukunaga, Eric Roth, Hossein Amini, Steve Golin and Rosalie Swedlin.

Will
Penned by Craig Pearce, Will tells the story of young William Shakespeare’s arrival onto the punk rock theater scene that was 16th century London – the seductive, violent world where his raw talent faced rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous side-shows. It’s the hot, contemporary, dangerous version of Shakespeare’s life, played to a modern soundtrack, exposing all his recklessness, lustful temptations and brilliance. The pilot is being produce by TNT Originals and is being executive-produced by Pearce, Vince Gerardis, Howard Braunstein and Louise Rosager.

Animal Kingdom
Based on the feature film, Animal Kingdom, from John Wells and Warner Horizon Television, is a family crime drama which follows 17-year-old Josh, who moves in with his wild, free-wheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town and is pulled into their life of indulgence and excess. But after Josh discovers that it’s all being funded by criminal activities, it suddenly becomes clear to him that joining the family comes with more danger and excitement than he might be ready to handle. Jonathan Lisco penned the script and serves as an executive producer alongside John Wells, Andrew Stearn, David Michôd and Liz Watts.

TBS

Wrecked
After piloting the comedy earlier this year, TBS has handed out a 10 episode series order to Wrecked – a single-camera comedy from up-and-coming writers Justin Shipley & Jordan Shipley and producer Jesse Hara. The series centres on a group of people starting from scratch after being stranded on an island. The comedy is being produced in-house and stars Zack Creggar (About a Boy), Ginger Gonzaga (Ted), Jessica Lowe (Glitch), Asif Ali (Agents of SHIELD), Ally Maki (Hot in Cleveland), Will Greenberg (Cloverfield), Brooke Dillman (Superbad), James Scott (The Stafford Project), George Basil (St. Peter Meets), Rhys Darby (Yes Man) and Brian Sacca (Single Dads).

The Group
Comedy pilot The Group follows a support group for people who think they have been abducted by aliens is the subject of a snarky feature piece by skeptical journalist Wyatt Jones. The more he digs into the oddballs’ claims, however, the more confused, intrigued and seduced he becomes. The Group is produced by Conaco in association with Warner Horizon Television. Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross, David Kissinger, Dan Halsted and director Greg Daniels serve as executive producers on the pilot, which was written by co-executive producer David Jenkins.

Adult Swim
Jason Alexander will play a celebrated psychotherapist who snaps one day while working with a patient, and his therapy becomes more and more unconventional. The untitled pilot hails from Adam Lustick, an actor and founding member of the sketch comedy group Harvard Sailing Team. The project is designed to be 15-minute series, produced through Adult Swim’s Alive and Kicking banner.

News: more Ripper Street, Rupert Everett joins Musketeers, returning CSI characters, Bradley Cooper’s Limitless + more

14 May 2015 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Film

Film trailers

  • Trailer for The Intern, with Anne Hathaway and Robert de Niro
  • Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak
  • Trailer for Jem and The Holograms

Australian TV

Internet TV

UK TV show casting

New UK TV shows

  • BBC developing: adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s A Place Of Greater Safety

US TV

US TV show casting

New US TV show casting

Nominative determinism strikes Pretty Lake in Netflix’s Between

13 May 2015 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Who’d have thought that in a town called ‘Pretty Lake’, everyone over the age of 21 would end up dying of a mysterious disease, leaving only pretty people behind?

To be fair, this is actually a co-production between Netflix and Canadian TV channel CityTV, so it’s not all Netflix’s fault, although perhaps they should have seen it coming, given that CityTV is responsible for Seed and Young Drunk Punk*.

* To be fair, it’s entirely possible that Netflix watched The Booth At The End and thought that was representative of City’s output. It’s not.