France 2 green lights: Swiss watchmaking murder-mystery TV movie De L’Autre Côté (On The Other Side), with Alix Poisson, Tiphaine Daviot, Luna Lou et al
This week, ABC (US)’s ‘Cast From The Past’ stunt is reuniting a whole bunch of ‘classic’ casts. This basically means various ABC shows are reuniting the casts of various TV shows and movies, some famous, some, erm , not so famous.
The list of reunions is long – and sometimes a little confusing for UK viewers, who may not have heard of half of them – but here’s TMINE’s potted guide to help you, complete with videos.
Some of them seem pretty kosher to me. black-ishreunites star Tracee Ellis Ross with her co-stars from Girlfriends. Similarly, The Conners reunites Blues Brothers 2000 stars John Goodman and Dan Aykroyd. And sure, no one on The Goldbergs was ever in Cheers, but getting four members of the cast of Cheers together still counts, particularly for an 80s-obsessed TV show that does entire episodes dedicated to Highlander.
The big mystery is how Ken Jeong showing up on Fresh off the Boat to be reunited with Constance Wu qualifies as “cast from the past”, given Crazy Rich Asians came out last year.
Then we get to the “inside baseball” style reunions. Getting two Charmed stars together is fine… but on Grey’s Anatomy? Because two of the producers used to write for Charmed?
Or Robert Sean Leonard on The Good Doctor because David Shore created House as well?
And then we have Adrien Brody and Leighton Meester’s reunion on Single Parents. They’re married. FFS.
Every Tuesday, TMINE flags up what new TV events BAFTA is holding around the UK
It’s another sneaky week for BAFTA, with another October event stealthily added to its line-up to minimal fanfare. But they ain’t getting it past me.
Preview Screening: Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey
Thursday, 17 October 2019 – 7:00pm The May Fair Hotel, Stratton St, Mayfair, London W1J 8LT
A preview of the first episode of the new two-part ITV series followed by a Q&A with Ant & Dec.
Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey will see two of the UK’s best-loved stars and BAFTA Award winning practitioners navigate a tougher terrain than the Australian jungle. Guided by expert genealogists and historians, the pair will follow their maternal and paternal bloodlines, using their DNA to search their ancestral history.
As their travels take them to Ireland and the US, the pair will not only delve into their past but will also meet relatives they had no clue even existed, unveiling some truly shocking revelations that only their DNA could unlock. Viewers will be treated to a rare and personal glimpse into this truly remarkable friendship with their warmth and infectious humour that has captured the nation over the years.
Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey is a Voltage TV and Mitre Television co-production for ITV. It was commissioned by Siobhan Greene when she was ITV’s Head of Entertainment Commissioning and Louise Major Assistant Commissioner, Entertainment, ITV. The Executive Producers are Kathleen Larkin and Sanjay Singhal and the Director is Iain Thompson, Voltage TV.
Batman is a problem. At the cinemas, you can’t get rid of him. He’s everywhere. As soon as you think you’ve got rid of him, he’s back again. Four movies in the 80s and 90s. Three Christopher Nolan movies. Batman v Superman. Justice League. And now we’ve got Robert Pattinson about to suit up for The Batman.
That’s too much bat, man.
On TV, however, DC has been pretty strict, with zero TV versions of Batman allowed while there’s a Batman at the cinema (ie never). We’ve had 10 seasons of young Superman in Smallville and Supergirl‘s had her own Superman (Tyler Hoechlin); we’ve even got alternative reality and previous versions of Superman lined up for The CW’s annual superhero show crossover. But the sainted Bat hasn’t once shown up.
What we have been allowed is ersatz versions of Batman, ranging from Smallville‘s Adam Knight through to the comic book Batman knock-off himself, Green Arrow, in Arrow– the first season of which was itself a (very good) knock-off of Batman Begins.
And now we have Batwoman.
Ruby Rose in The CW’s Batwoman
Not Batman
Although there is a long and exciting discussion to be had about whether the most famous superheroines are merely female versions of superheroes, rather than characters in their own rights – cf She-Hulk, Spiderwoman, Supergirl, Miss Martian, Batgirl – the comic book Batwoman is at least a relatively different creature from playboy Bruce Wayne and his becowled alter-ego.
A former student of West Point who gets thrown out for being gay, she ends up stealing military weaponry to create her own Batman-style arsenal. Of course, it then turns out she’s Bruce Wayne’s cousin, but what you going to do?
On TV, not so much it seems. Becausethis is a Batwoman not at all confident she can escape the Bat’s shadow.
