Jason Isaacs in Star Trek: Discovery
News

News: US Cucumber/Banana adaptation; Taken, Quantico, Designated Survivor purges; + more

Internet TV

  • Kathy Baker and Kyle Bornheimer to recur on Netflix’s Love
  • Rae Gray and Jack Quaid join Amazon’s Sea Oak

New UK TV show casting

US TV

US TV show casting

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting

Happy 12th birthday to TMINE!

A birthday cake

Crikey, as I always say. How did that happen?

Time has flown again, since The Medium Is Not Enough emerged blinking into the world a stupifying 12 years ago, primed to make sarcastic comments about foreign TV, mainly from the US, mainly in languages I can speak, with reviews of Prison Break, Supernatural, and Global Frequency

Normally, I recall at this point what I’ve learnt in the past year. However, I’ve reached the age where I’ve both achieved true wisdom, so have apparently learnt nothing new, and have started to lose my memory, so I probably did learn something but have now forgotten it.

Oh yes. That was it. My learning is that French TV has more than one good TV programme, now that Canal+ has added Baron Noir and Le bureau des Légendes to its portfolio of Engrenages (Spiral). 

One thing I would say, though, is that I think Peak TV has peaked. There are more and more networks on more and more media, it’s true. But judging by the number of networks who dipped their toes in the water of scripted content a few years ago, shivered a bit, and have now retreated back in the warm, embracing confines of unscripted in the past few months, I’m thinking we’re starting to see some obvious winners emerging from the melée and that there’ll be fewer new dramas as a result. 

As always, a great big thank you to all the regular commenters: Mark Carroll, JustStark, bob and GYAD (who might have been picked off at the back by hyenas in the past few months). Another big thank you and welcome to new arrivals Eagled and Ian Miller for giving me hope in the darkness. But a thanks to absolutely everyone who even left a single comment in passing, particularly Craig Grannell, Toby, idleworm, Robin Parker and Adam Bowie. 

Same time next year everyone? I say that every year, don’t I?

Weekly Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman #24, Wonder Woman (Steve Trevor) #1, Justice League (Rebirth) #22, Dark Knight III #9

Back on Wonder Woman Wednesday after a two week absence, it’s Weekly Wonder Woman – reading Wonder Woman comics now, so you can decide whether to fork out for the trade paperbacks once the series have been cancelled due to low readership.

The past fortnight, you’ve probably been off watching Wonder Woman, judging by the half-billion dollar box office it’s now done worldwide, although not if you live in Algeria, Libya, Tunisia or one of various other countries that don’t like Israel that much. Warner Bros were a bit surprised by how well the movie did, in fact, expecting something much more modest, but it’s now all action stations to capitalise on the movie’s success. Geoff Johns is now working with director Patty Jenkins to write a sequel and rumour has it that Joss Whedon is currently doing lots of reshoots to add more Wonder Woman to Justice League.

Half a billion dollars is apparently enough to impress the Library of Congress in the US to have a special laying down ceremony for the script involving nothing other than Lynda Carter.


In other movie news, the biopic of Wonder Woman creators William Moulton Marston, Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne, Professor Marston & The Wonder Women, now has a US release date (October 27).

In the comic book world, however, the big news is that former Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone is revisiting the character in a new six-issue series starting in September. Simone, who’s spent some time writing Red Sonja, marries that recent barbarian focus with the new run to give us… a Wonder Woman-Conan The Barbarian crossover!

“I love crossovers, I love Wonder Woman, and being able to bring the undisputed greatest warriors of the DCU and Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age together for the very first time is a dream come true,” says Simone. “A major draw is getting to reunite with the great Aaron Lopresti, whose very favorite things to draw are Wonder Woman and barbarians. Its blades and bracelets, wizards and wonder and I couldn’t be more delighted.”

Meanwhile, remember how I mused a month ago about whether DC’s Rebirth reboot had wiped out everything from nu52 continuity or at least rendered it nothing more than divine fiction, including Diana’s brother Jason? Turns out, that’s still canon because starting from issue #31 of Wonder Woman, James Robinson, Carlo Pagulayan, and Emanuela Lupacchino will be starting a six-month run entitled ‘Children of the Gods’ that will be focused on Jason (and that will also guest-star Giganta):

Spinning out of the pages of DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH and JUSTICE LEAGUE: DARKSEID WAR, Robinson, Pagulayan and Lupacchino will answer one of the biggest questions of the year: Who is Wonder Woman’s brother? Taken away from Themyscira in the dead of night, the mysterious Jason (the only male ever born on the island) has been hidden somewhere far from the sight of gods and men… but his life and Wonder Woman’s are about to intersect in a terrifying way, bringing them face-to-face with a cosmic threat they never imagined!

Wonder Woman #31

But that’s all the news for now. After the jump, we’ll look at the past fortnight’s new releases: Wonder Woman #24, Wonder Woman (Steve Trevor) #1, Justice League (Rebirth) #22 and Dark Knight III #9.

Continue reading “Weekly Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman #24, Wonder Woman (Steve Trevor) #1, Justice League (Rebirth) #22, Dark Knight III #9”

What have you been watching? Including American Gods, The Handmaid’s Tale and Doctor Who

It’s “What have you been watching?”, my chance to tell you what movies and TV I’ve been watching recently and your chance to recommend anything you’ve been watching.

The thing about holidays, even short ones, is you end up with masses of work to do in order to catch up. So apologies for the lack of much blogging last week and indeed this week, but work called. Plus there hasn’t been that much new to review anyway.

Since the last WHYBW, I’ve looked at all the new shows I could find (there was probably something on Netflix, but they tend to hide) but that tally isn’t huge:

Come on TV networks! What am I going to focus my sarcasm on if you’re not going to wheel out some crappy new summer shows. (What’s that Freeform (US)? The Bold Type started last night? Fine, I’ll review it tomorrow.)

It doesn’t help, of course, that a lot of current shows are winding up, too. After the jump, all I’ll be able to talk about are the latest episodes of Downward Dog, Doctor Who, Silicon Valley, Twin Peaks and You Are Wanted, as well as the season finales of American Gods and The Handmaid’s Tale. Pfft. I’m going to have to take up crocheting or something, aren’t I?

Continue reading “What have you been watching? Including American Gods, The Handmaid’s Tale and Doctor Who”

News: Moffat/Gatiss’ Dracula; HBO’s Watchmen; a Supernatural spin-off; + more

Internet TV

  • Eddie Shin, Jolie Jenkins and Emery Kelly join Netflix’s Alexa & Katie
  • Amazon acquires: Keshet (Israel)’s The Baker and the Beauty

Australian TV

New UK TV shows

  • BBC developing: adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss

US TV

US TV show casting

  • Daniel Henney moves from CBS’s Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders to CBS’s Criminal Minds
  • Colton Haynes FX’s American Horror Story

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting