Monday, November 30, 2020
My Review of Lady And The Tramp (1955)
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Top 10 Ryan Murphy Shows
I was going to do this a few weeks ago but now that we're heading into the final month of 2020 and no more Murphy productions in sight (aside from The Prom), I thought I would do a run down of the ten best/most interesting shows that Ryan Murphy has done over the last two decades.
Without further ado, here goes ....
1: American Horror Story (FX, 2011-present)
I know for some people this show might not be at it's best as it was in earlier seasons but for me, while it has gotten formulaic in it's approach, it hasn't quite lost the entertainment factor either and with it's tenth season in current production along with a spin-off and three further seasons planned, this is by far Murphy's most successful production to date. Not to mention, it's done wonders in revitalising the anthologies for television and streaming alone.
2: Glee (FOX, 2009-2015)
Six seasons and no movie and a lot of controversy and a lot of musical numbers. This series started some careers and stalled others but the Ohio setting surrounding a local Glee did manage to become a worldwide phenomenon. Again, the show might have faltered in later seasons but it's definitely responsible for making Murphy into quite the power player and certain had no problem pulling in impressive guests in it's six year run.
3: Nip/Tuck (FX, 2003-2010)
Tell me what you don't like about yourself? Before both Glee and American Horror Story, there was also Nip/Tuck - a crazy plastic surgeon drama based in Miami (Seasons 1-4) and LA (Season 5&6) with one hell of a talented cast and some of the most batshit crazy antics ever. The show had a lot to say on it's subject matter and definitely delivered it in the most OTT manner.
4: Pose (FX, 2018-present)
Now, this show is more the work of Steven Canals and Janet Mock, though it's under Murphy's production company and he was involved with casting. It's arguably the most important show from Murphy's body of work, especially with the majority of the cast being transwomen and it's definitely a beautiful capturing of both the 1980s and 1990s settings in it's first two seasons. With a third season currently in production, I can't wait to see what's next for Blanca, Elektra, Angel and the gang.
5: 911 (FOX, 2018-present)
On paper, this arguably had the potential to be the tamest of shows from Ryan Murphy but three seasons in, it's also got a lot of Murphy's trademark OTTness. It's also the most heart warming of the bunch and another megahit for FOX with a spin-off also helping to build a franchise for this particular series. With a loveable cast, top quality writing and brilliant stunts, it's hard not to enjoy this series.
6: American Crime Story (FX, 2016-present)
Ryan Murphy's love for the anthology format has certainly helped him and going down the real life crime route for this show definitely helped to get him a lot of Emmy love. The first season focusing on OJ Simpson was easily the most adored on that front but the second season focusing on Andrew Cunannan and Gianni Versace was the one for me. The upcoming third season will tackle Monica Lewinsky and the Clintons and that's going to be interesting to see unfold.
7: Feud: Bette And Joan (FX, 2017)
Alternatively, this could've been another ongoing anthology series but fate played a bit of a cruel trick here. This only series, focusing on the infamous feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford was sublime, with both Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange giving career high performances as well as some nice recreations on both actresses most infamous roles and turbulent lives.
8: Hollywood (Netflix, 2020)
Murphy's shows on Netflix haven't been quite as smooth as his ones on network and cable television but in spite of his format becoming too recognisable, they're still worthy of discussion. Hollywood decided to play around with an alternative version of 1940's Tinseltown, including an interracial relationship between Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) and writer Archie (Jeremy Pope) while also bringing about diversity in an era that wasn't best for it at the time. Suspend disbelief and it really was an enjoyable seven part series.
9: Ratched (Netflix, 2020-present)
Ryan Murphy's relationship with Sarah Paulson continues with her not only appearing in the majority of his shows but now spearheading one, also by creator Evan Romanky. This prequel series for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest with Paulson tackling a younger version of Nurse Mildred Ratched might have felt American Horror Story lite and might not have been able to fully pull off it's themes at times, but it did make for an enjoyable romp but here's hoping the writing is sharper next season.
10: The Politician (Netflix, 2019-present)
Netflix's first foray into the world of Ryan Murphy saw them delving into one man's political aspirations and while Ben Platt's aspiring politician Payton Hobarth is a difficult main character to like, the show itself is often anchored by it's older cast. Specially when that cast includes the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Judith Light and Bette Midler. With the third season set to be it's last, at least the show will not be outstaying it's welcome.
So that's my rundown of shows concerning Ryan Murphy. I guess honourable mentions would go to the likes of 911: Lone Star, Scream Queens and Popular. I definitely couldn't get into the likes of The New Normal. 2021 will see the debut of American Horror Stories (FX on Hulu), Halston (Netflix), A Chorus Line (Netflix) and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix), so it looks like Murphy won't be going anywhere.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Doctor Who - Series 13 Begins Filming & Captain Jack Return for Revolution Of The Daleks - EDITED
I wanted to wait a while before doing this particular blog and there's a chance I might be editing it as well, but we finally have information about Doctor Who that's actually related to the show and not extraneous media, so here goes.
First of all, the worst kept secret was finally revealed. On Monday, the BBC decided to do a watchalong of The Timeless Children as part of #DoctorWhoDay with a very brief trailer airing at the end. The trailer revealed that John Barrowman will be reprising his role as Captain Jack Harkness for the festive special, Revolution Of The Daleks. It seems that Jack's role in the upcoming episode will focus on helping the companions - Graham (Bradley Walsh), Yasmin (Mandip Gill) and Ryan (Tosin Cole) against an invasion of Daleks while the Doctor herself is a bit detained.
#JackIsBack: https://twitter.com/JohnBarrowman/status/1330965668548657152
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
DC TV Series Update: New Looks & Potential Future Shows In The Making
I was going to wait a little bit longer to do this one but with so much news coming out over the last few weeks in relation to DC TV and streaming content, I thought I might as well do a blog right now. Warning this may be edited tomorrow when other stuff emerges later today.
With DCFanDome disappointingly didn't give us a first look as to what Javicia Leslie's Ryan Wilder would look like as Batwoman, last month a nice series of photos emerged to unveil the new look that Ryan would have and if you spotted some set pics, it also looks like Ryan will have a Batmobile of her own as well. I like the bigger emphasis on red with the gauntlets and the cape compared to Kate Kane's look in the first season and the choice of wig works pretty well to boot. Viewers won't have much longer to wait as the show returns to the CW from January 17th with a brief trailer giving us a tiny glimpse of Ryan in action.
First Season 2 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5__G4rXil8
With the third season in production (and rumours of a fourth season also in the works), HBO Max didn't waste too much time in unveiling Curran Walters new look for Jason Tood as the Red Hood will be coming to Titans in quite a big way. The character will not only serve as the main antagonist for the first half of the season but Red Hood is also poised to get his own spin-off while Blackfire (Damaris Lewis) will serve as a main villain for the second half of the forthcoming season. Castings for new characters such as Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake and Scarecrow have yet to be confirmed but you can expect some new looks for Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) and Starfire (Anna Diop) as well as a more focused team when the show does return in 2021.
Meanwhile for those of you wondering if the CW were going to pick any more DC content, well you're in luck (depending on your standpoint with CW DC content) as there seems to be plans afoot for a Black Lightning spin-off, focusing on the character Painkiller ( Jordan Calloway) with a backdoor pilot being filmed as part of the main series upcoming fourth season. I stopped watching this show after it's first season, so this news slightly threw me off. I'm not against the character getting a spin off and I might watch the pilot episode out of curiosity, but don't expect much or any coverage on here. Black Lightning's fourth season will premiere on the CW from February 8th 2021. It also has been confirmed that this will be the show's final season as well.
If Painkiller getting his own series wasn't surprising, how about the CW giving a series to a character who has yet to make her debut in the comics? For a while there's been a lot of hype for Brazilian Wonder Woman, Yara Flor (created by Joelle Jones) in the upcoming Future State event series (January/February 2021) and the CW have decided to quickly get in there by commissioning Wonder Girl, which will focus on Yara Flor and will be done from Queen of the South executive producer/co-showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez and Berlanti Productions.
The synopsis for the upcoming series ....
Written by Rodriguez, Wonder Girl centers on Yara Flor, a Latina Dreamer who was born of an Amazonian Warrior and a Brazilian River God, learns that she is Wonder Girl. With her newfound power must fight the evil forces that would seek to destroy the world.
This is showing a lot of confidence for a character who DC readers have yet to meet and while it's potentially risky, I have to commend the CW for taking the risk though. It'll be interesting to see the casting for this upcoming series but with both this and Painkiller getting potential shows, I have a feeling that Supergirl might not be the only CW DC show we lose in 2021.
Wonder Girl Press Release: https://deadline.com/2020/11/wonder-girl-tv-series-latina-lead-yara-flor-dailyn-rodriguez-greg-berlanti-productions-the-cw-1234616503/
Meanwhile November 17th came and went and Zack Snyder held a breakdown of the trailer for fans on his Vero account for Zack Snyder's Justice League. The trailer was uploaded again with a few new scenes in black and white but we're still no closer to a confirmed date for the upcoming miniseries. It was confirmed a few weeks ago that Jared Leto will reprise his role as the Joker for the new cut. I'll provide a link for the new cut of the trailer below.
ZSJL Trailer (B&W): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3OyBdkrDTk
That's a rundown of some of the upcoming DC shows that both the CW and HBO Max will be producing over the next year. There's more info to come, especially regarding a certain Cut and a bunch of Green Lanterns.
Friday, November 13, 2020
My Review of Someone Has To Die: "Pull the Trigger" / "Apretar el gatillo"
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
My Review of Someone Has To Die: "Take Aim" / "Tomar punterÃa"
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
My Review of Someone Has To Die: "Release The Prey" / "Soltar la presa"
Friday, November 06, 2020
You Promised Me No More Lies
Okay, something of a shorter TV Jumble blog than usual but also one with some spoilers for upcoming series as well.
911: Lone Star: There's not many episodes left to go with the first season on SkyLiving and so far, not too much has really happened. I mean, there was a moment where it seemed like Owen's leadership was a bit threatened by Judd's old pal, Billy but that quickly fizzled out and Michelle's ongoing search for her sister has given Carlos a story outside of TK but other than that, between the cases and a little more screen time for Mateo, it's felt fairly modest at this point.
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan's real life wife, Hilarie Burton will play Negan's wife, Lucille in an upcoming episode of The Walking Dead.
- Mackenzie Marsh has joined the seventeenth season of Grey's Anatomy in a recurring role.
- Stacey Farber will be playing Leslie Lar in Superman & Lois, due to air on the CW in February 2021.
- William Jackson Harper will lead the second season of HBO Max anthology series, Love Life. BBC1 recently aired the first season of the show.
- Loki has been renewed for a second season ahead of it's debut on Disney+.
- His Dark Materials has also been renewed for a third season ahead of it's second season premiere on BBC1/HBO Max this month.
- Bridgerton will debut on Netflix from Christmas Day and has already gotten a second season renewal.
- Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina's fourth and final season will be released on Netflix from New Year's Eve.
- FOX has cancelled both Filthy Rich and neXt.
- Castle Rock has been cancelled after two seasons on Hulu.