Bradbury Whispers: Are You Listening?

Tomorrow night (June 1) the new show The Whispers premieres on ABC.  What do we know about this show?  Well it involves kids and someone whispering I guess, at least that is what this ABC description reveals:

We love to play games with our children. But what happens when someone else starts to play with them too? Someone we don't know. Can't see. Can't hear. In The Whispers, someone — or something — is manipulating the ones we love most to accomplish the unthinkable.

We already have our shows about children returning from the dead, and even kid zombies (sort of the same thing), so why not kids and whispering?  If you watch the trailer all you can see is blinking lights and running adults - nothing too scary unless you are afraid of exercise.  And you have the requisite FBI types involved as well.  Why not?

I might remain somewhat hopeful since the story is based on Zero Hour from Ray Bradbury, which was a pretty good story (and I won't give away the ending). But turning it into an entire series may not be wise.  And I do not recall the FBI getting involved. 

I am not sure if I am curious enough to even change the channel, but you have been warned.   I may wait for Childhood's End to get my fill of empowered children. 

NBC Does a Netflix with Aquarius

Tomorrow night (May 28th) NBC will premiere its new show Aquarius with David Duchovny, and then make the entire series available online the next day.  Yes, binging on new series is now spreading beyond Netflix and Amazon.  No need to pace yourself, but I am getting ahead of myself since I have not explained Aquarius.  Here is the story:

Sam Hodiak (David Duchovny, "Californication," "The X-Files"), a decorated World War II vet and homicide detective, barely recognizes the city he's now policing. Long hair, cheap drugs, rising crime, protests, free love, police brutality, Black Power and the Vietnam War are radically remaking the world he and the Greatest Generation saved from fascism 20 years ago.

So when Emma Karn (Emma Dumont, "Salvation," "Bunheads"), the 16-year-old daughter of an old girlfriend, goes missing in a sea of hippies and Hodiak agrees to find her, he faces only hostility, distrust and silence. He enlists the help of Brian Shafe (Grey Damon, "True Blood," "Friday Night Lights") - a young, idealistic undercover vice cop who's been allowed to grow his hair out - to infiltrate this new counterculture and find her. 

The generational conflict between the two is immediate and heated, yet they're both dedicated officers and soon realize the need to bring Emma home is more urgent than they foresaw. The immediacy arises because she has joined a small but growing band of drifters under the sway of a career criminal who now dreams of being a rock star: Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony, "Game of Thrones").

Yes, another cop show where the two cops have different personalities, but this time with cool 60s music and Charlie Manson sprinkled in.  How many ways can we dress up the same plot?  I am not sure, but I imagine Hollywood can keep it going.  

Brian Lowry in Variety states:

In making all the episodes available online after its premier, it’s either an interesting experiment, charitably speaking, or an unceremonious dumping of a project whose prospects are, admittedly, uncertain. While the dawning of “Aquarius” is hardly revolutionary, the show does kick off summer with a provocative, cable-like gamble.

I think I will wait for Duchovny on the returning X-Files early next year.   While only 6 episodes long, I know I will get more of a unique program that surpasses much we see on TV these days. 

Mr. Robot: Tapping the Angst Against Technology

Next month USA Network will premiere a new show called Mr. Robot, which promises to challenge our descent down the rabbit hole of the Internet.  Here is the setup:

USA Network presents MR. ROBOT, a psychological thriller that follows Elliot (Rami Malek, The Pacific), a young programmer, who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and a vigilante hacker by night. Elliot finds himself at a crossroads when the mysterious leader (Christian Slater, The Adderall Diaries) of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect. Compelled by his personal beliefs, Elliot struggles to resist the chance to take down the multinational CEOs he believes are running (and ruining) the world. This contemporary and culturally resonant drama also stars Portia Doubleday (Her), Carly Chaikin (Suburgatory) and Martin Wallström (Easy Money III).

This sounds like a show that taps into the youthful questions that Edward Snowden and other have been asking - Where is this technology taking us?  It also taps into the questions about the direction of our economy voiced by Occupy Wall Street and others.  Now whether the program will ask any real questions or simply ride on this wave is something else. 

You can find a trailer here as well as multiple trailers at the USA Network website.  And while the official television premiere is June 24th, you can view it online starting May 27th at places such as Hulu, iTunes, Youtube, Xbox Video, and other locations.  I for one plan to take a look at the show this week. 

My only concern is that the program includes Christian Slater, who I have liked as a movie actor but dreaded when it came to television.  I cannot think of any television projects he has helped (including Mind Games, The Forgotten, and My Own Worst Enemy).  Is it a kiss of doom?  Maybe not, but I am wary. 

Memorial Day Programming: Texas Rising!

The History Channel is reaching deeper into history in its broadcast of Texas Rising. We are accustomed to the Memorial Day holiday reminding us of recent wars, but this 10-hour tale goes back to the 1830s and tells a story about the creation of these United States.  Here is the blurb from the History Channel:

In 1836, west of the Mississippi was considered the Wild West and the Texas frontier was viewed as hell on earth. Crushed from the outside by Mexican armadas and attacked from within by ferocious Comanche tribes—no one was safe. But this was a time of bravery, a time to die for what you believed in and a time to stand tall against the cruel rule of the Mexican General Santa Anna (Martinez). The heroic General Sam Houston (Paxton), the rag tag Rangers and the legendary “Yellow Rose of Texas” lead this story of the human will to win against insurmountable odds. At the end, the Texas flags stood tall and victorious, claiming a piece of history for all eternity.

The good thing is that this program was created by the same team responsible for the Hatfields & McCoys, and even stars Bill Paxton who did an excellent job portraying Randall McCoy.  I just hope this tries to examine the actual history of the period rather than simply being a high-level, misleading summary of events as we saw with Sons of Liberty.  Of course, anything to do with Texas is expected to be oversized and exaggerated, but let's hope the History Channel at least tries to provide some useful (and true) history.

Arthur C. Clarke Miniseries on SyFy

SyFy is bringing Arthur C. Clarke's dark and fascinating novel Childhood's End to television in December as a three night event.  Here is the trailer and what SyFy has in store:

Written by Arthur C. Clarke and hailed as a revolutionary work of science fiction since its publishing in 1953, Childhood’s End follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious “Overlords,” whose arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.

Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) will play Karellen, the ambassador for the Overlords. Mike Vogel (Under the Dome) will play Ricky Stormgren, a midwestern farmer whose life is turned upside down when he is named the sole human ambassador for the Overlords. Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck) will play Rupert Boyce, an enigmatic American entrepeneur. 

Surprisingly, this story has yet to be brought to the screen, though Stanley Kubrick considered it and the BBC brought it to radio.  This is not necessarily something you want to watch with the kids, or even if you are a new parent.  And I do not foresee a sequel to this story given its ending.  No, it's a scary story in so many ways and, while possibly hopeful in some ways, it certainly does not fit into our understanding of hope.  

One book reviewer had his to say:

If Childhood's End was Clarke's way of coming to terms with a hostile and excessively weaponized world gone mad, as so many of his fellow writers were doing at the time (Nevil Shute in On the Beach and Walter M. Miller in A Canticle for Leibowitz, to name but two), then the eloquence with which he does so remains moving to this day. Sure, the human race is a mess. But in our imperfections lies our humanity. With so many great achievements to contrast all our evils, it says a lot that one of Clarke's Overlords can say, even as the curtain descends on our poor doomed species, "Remember this — we shall always envy you."

By the way, I would like to see A Canticle for Leibowitz on the screen at some point as well.  It was another great story.
 

Galavant Again?

I was surprised to read that ABC's Galavant was returning in the fall season. I thought this was a one-off show, but it must have done well enough in the ratings or ABC lacks the strength to try new programming. 

I admit I could only watch a few episodes of the show before I nodded off. However, the music could be fun, such as the lyrics for this song "Maybe You're Not the Worst Thing Ever":

Richard: You're frigid and demanding
I shudder at your call
Madalena: Whenever you come near me
My flesh begins to crawl
Together: But sometimes, there are moments
I'm not repelled at all
Maybe you're not the worst thing ever

Isabella: You're utterly disgusting
I loathe your manly stink
Galavant: I see your mouth start moving
And God, I need a drink
Together: And then, from out of nowhere,
I'll look at you and think
Maybe you're not the worst thing ever

M: You're worse than crabs
R: Worse than scurvy
G: Worse than lice or plague
I: But truth be told
All: You're growing on me just like mold

G: And though, you're so annoying
I: So easy to despise
R: And though, there's something scary
Behind your cold, dead eyes
M: And though I'll never like you
All: It's nice to realize
Maybe I shouldn't quite say never
Maybe you're not the worst thing ever

Maybe with this music in mind, this show was not the worst thing ever.  It just could have been better.

The Plague Comes to America

What do you get when you have a small town, an age-specific plague, and six episodes?  You get something similar to Netflix's new series Between that will premiere tonight (here is a trailer). 

In this six part drama from Canada, everyone over the age of 21 is likely to die, leaving the kids to fend for themselves (no more living with dad and mom for another 10 years).  As with The 100 and other such shows, we get to see what the kids learned from their parents, if anything. And other recent series, such as The Last Ship and The Strain, already use plagues as the chosen method for telling a story about our society. 

So why not throw together kids and disease to see what we can get?  That is at least the idea.  Does it work?  You be the judge.

Of course, others already have an opinion, such as this statement from The Guardian:

While the premise of the show is fairly interesting, in this YA context it just seems contrived. It’s not so much a mystery as a situation we’ve accepted as fact, so we don’t care about finding a solution. All the characters seem immune, so why should we be invested in a disease that can’t kill them?

The Departures Continue: David Letterman

So this is the final week of David Letterman and The Late Show as we know it.  I have been watching some of the final shows and I can see why Letterman wanted to avoid them: they come across more as a funeral than a celebration of a long and fruitful career.  

Josh Eells in Rolling Stone magazine had a good article on Mr. Letterman titled "David Letterman:  Happy at Last."  In describing the end of an era, the author stated: 

At the same time, he must look around at the celebrity Pictionary and the twerking pranks and figure maybe it's not worth it. He's like the last T. Rex after the asteroid hit, watching a bunch of chipper mammals scurry around the plains he used to roam.

As the longest running late night talk show host in television history, Letterman has plenty to be proud about. And Stephen Colbert has huge shoes to fill. 

And at the age of 68, you just hope Letterman can enjoy his retirement at his Montana ranch with his young family and ignore late night TV. It's not what it used to be with all the current fawning over celebrities. Like the evening news, it plays to the lowest common denominator rather than shedding some light of an entertainment industry that sometimes needs a good scolding. 

The Seths and Jimmy/James are lightweights, like USAToday compared to the New York Times -  we may like the colorful graphs, but you need some depth once in awhile too.  Dave, we will miss you.

Should We Go to Wayward Pines?

Tomorrow night (May 14th) on Fox you can see M. Night Shyamalan's Wayward Pines.  Okay, it is not really his story and it is not clear if he directs more than the pilot episode, but his name is attached to the show, be it a good or bad thing given his past performance. And in a time of TV pilots popping up like dandelions on an ignored lawn, you need a hook. Mr. Shyamalan is that if nothing else.

Fox has put together this summary of the shows:

Imagine the perfect American town, beautiful homes, manicured lawns, children playing safely in the streets...Now imagine never being able to leave. You have no communication with the outside world. You think you’re going insane. You must be in Wayward Pines.

Based on Blake Crouch's international bestselling series of books and brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Signs”), WAYWARD PINES is the 10-episode, intense psychological thriller evocative of the classic hit “Twin Peaks.”

Secret Service Agent ETHAN BURKE (Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon, “Crash,” “City of Ghosts”) drives to the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, ID, searching for two missing federal agents. One of the best Secret Service agents in the Seattle office, he’s the man who knew missing agent KATE HEWSON (Carla Gugino, “Watchmen,” “Entourage”) better than anyone. They were more than partners; their relationship nearly destroyed Ethan’s marriage.

Everything changes when a truck slams into his car…and he wakes up in the Wayward Pines Hospital, with the intense and unpredictable NURSE PAM (Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Melissa Leo, “The Fighter,” “Treme”) at his bedside. It soon appears that Pam is more interested in harming than healing. She and Ethan grow into deadly rivals, and her role in the town proves much deeper than anyone realizes.

Among the other residents Ethan meets are the mysterious DR. JENKINS (Emmy Award nominee Toby Jones, “The Girl,” the “Harry Potter” franchise), the psychiatrist who treats him at Wayward Pines Hospital;  toymaker HAROLD BALLINGER (Reed Diamond, “24,” “Much Ado About Nothing”); BEVERLY (Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Juliette Lewis, “Hysterical Blindness,” “Cape Fear”), a bartender who is as wary of Wayward Pines as he is; and SHERIFF ARNOLD POPE (Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard, “Crash,” “Hustle & Flow”), who takes offense at a Secret Service agent showing up on his turf.

Meanwhile, Ethan’s boss, ADAM HASSLER (Tim Griffin, “Prime Suspect”), attempts to update Ethan’s wife, THERESA BURKE (Shannyn Sossamon, “40 Days and 40 Nights,” “How to Make It in America”) with the latest news. After arriving in Wayward Pines, Theresa and Ethan enroll their teenage son, BEN (Charlie Tahan, “Charlie St. Cloud”), in the town’s only school, where his teacher, MEGAN FISHER (guest star Hope Davis “Allegiance,” “In Treatment”), provides key information about the town’s origins. But Ethan’s continuing investigation only turns up more and more questions, and each one leads him to the most important question of all: What’s wrong with Wayward Pines?

I guess my question is: What's unique about Wayward Pines?  Can't leave town? I saw that recently in Under the Dome and Once Upon a Time.  A Federal agent seems to be caught in a weird town? I saw that in Haven? And that is just the top of the list. The only thing I haven't seen is Matt Dillon in a TV series, and the pull of Matt may counteract the push of Mr. Shyamalan. I will give it a try, yet I have a feeling the Dillon dude is selling déjà vu.

Memories of Mad Men at the Museum

With only a few episodes left of AMC's Mad Men, you may be looking for another way to remember the period covered in the series.  Well, you are in luck because New York's Museum of the Moving Image has a special exhibit through June 14th called Matthew Weiner's Mad Men.  Here is more from the museum on this exhibit:

This new major exhibition explores the creative process behind Mad Men, one of the most acclaimed television series of all time, now launching its final seven episodes on AMC. Featuring large-scale sets including Don Draper’s office and the kitchen from the Draper’s Ossining home, more than 25 iconic costumes, props, video clips, advertising art, and personal notes and research material from series creator Matthew Weiner, the exhibition offers unique insight into the series’ origins, and how its exceptional storytelling and remarkable attention to period detail resulted in a vivid portrait of an era and the characters who lived through it. The Museum’s exhibition marks the first time objects relating to the production of Mad Men will be shown in public on this scale. 

You can also about some of the films that inspired Mr. Weiner, including North by Nortwest, Vertigo, Blue Velvet, and The Bachelor Party.  For instance, the last film is about how the

"swinging bachelor” was a trope of fiction at this time, but this film poetically undoes the clichés of male camaraderie and presents both the issues of fidelity and loneliness with an unflinching eye.

Fidelity and loneliness?  I think Mr. Weiner covers both very well in his series.
 
Image Credit:  ABC News.  The photo highlights the set for Don Draper's office, featured in seasons four to six of Mad Men.

Grace and Frankie on Netflix

Tomorrow night (May 8) on Netflix you can start to watch (or binge) the new series Grace and Frankie featuring a terrific cast and unique late-in-life story line.  Here are the basics from Netlix:

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin co-star as two women forced to reinvent their lives in this funny, honest new Netflix Original series. Elegant, proper Grace and freewheeling, eccentric Frankie aren't friends, even though their husbands Robert and Sol (Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) have been law partners for decades. But when Robert and Sol announce that they're leaving their wives for each other, the two women start to bond in ways they never expected.

This is supposed to be a comedy with plenty of tears. With a cast like this, it should be a fun romp. I am surprised Netflix could get all this talent in one room. Is a second season even possible? I'm not worried since we have 13 episodes to enjoy before that becomes an issue.

Update: Netflix has renewed Grace and Frankie for a second season.  I'm glad since I enjoy watching these actors together, though the first few episodes seem to be somewhat dated in their approach to gay relationships. And the children are not as interesting as the brood in Transparent. Maybe it will even out over time.

Tonight on NOVA: Nazis and America

We have moved away way past Downton Abbey on PBS and now find the NOVA program tackling World War II and Nazi harassment of US shipping lines.  Tonight's program, Nazi Attack onAmerica, discusses the role of the German U-boat off America's shore.  Here is a quick blurb on the show from PBS:

Long before 9/11, a far deadlier, little-known attack from the ocean depths struck our shores, lasting three-and-a-half years and claiming 5,000 lives. Now, famed undersea explorer Bob Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, investigates the wreck of one of the attack craft, a German submarine that lies at the bottom of the gulf just a few miles off New Orleans. U-166 was part of Operation Drumbeat, a highly successful U-boat operation that caught East Coast cities and shipping almost completely unprepared. With state-of-the-art survey gear Ballard probes the wreck and explores a dramatic mystery in the official story of the sub’s sinking.

You can see a clip here.   Given all the attention about battles "over there," it is good to remember that some of the battles were once over here on the Atlantic coast in addition to the attack on Pearl Harbor.