Sally Ember's Blog, page 34

Newest #PoetLaureate for the #USA is Tracy K. Smith

Newest #PoetLaureate for the #USA is Tracy K. Smith

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[photo credit, from the article (link below): James Estrin/The New York Times]

USA’s Library of Congress has announced Tracy K. Smith as its newest national treasure, the country’s “poet laureate consultant in poetry,” the 22nd individual to hold that position.

A Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet (for her 2011 science-fiction-themed collection, Life on Mars, Smith, 45, who holds a BA from Harvard University and an M.F.A. (Master’s in Fine Arts) from Columbia, is the Director of the creative writing program at Princeton University.

Mazel Tov!

Here is a great article about her life, current projects and past creative work:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/books/tracy-k-smith-is-the-new-poet-laureate.html

Read and listen to some of her poetry and read more about her/all her writing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLIH6ewfplA

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/books/review/life-on-mars-by-tracy-k-smith-book-review.html

and

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/55522

and

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/tracy-k-smith

and

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/05/wade-in-the-water

Filed under: Poetry, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Writing Tagged: poet, poet laureate, Poetry, Poets, Pulitzer Prize, Tracy K. Smith

#TEDGlobal2017 line-up, here

On August 27, an extraordinary group of people will gather in Arusha, Tanzania, for TEDGlobal 2017, a four-day TED Conference for “those with a genuine interest in the betterment of the continent,” says curator Emeka Okafor. As Okafor puts it: “Africa has an opportunity to reframe the future of work, cultural production, entrepreneurship, agribusiness. We…

via Sneak preview lineup unveiled for Africa’s next TED Conference — TED Blog

Filed under: Writing

Sharing: GREAT group and GREAT blog, here, for #indie #authors

This post is part of Book Expo Indie Author Fringe, an online author conference that showcases the best self-publishing advice and education for authors across the world — harnessing the global reach of the Alliance of Independent Authors’ network. Our self-publishing conference features well-known indie authors and advisors, for 24 sessions over 24-hours, in a […]

via Beginners guide to Indie Author Jargon – by Jay Artale… — Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog

Filed under: Writing

reblogging: “11 Rules of Good Writing That Iain M. Banks Left as His Legacy”

11 Rules of Good Writing That Iain M. Banks Left as His Legacy

via 11 Rules of #SciFi #writing — J. Giambrone

Filed under: Writing

New #kidlit zine for #indie #authors

Children’s book author, Carole P. Roman, has created a brand new magazine geared specifically toward Indie Authors. The Indie Authors Monthly magazine is a fantastic new resource for Indies.

ABOUT THE MAGAZINE Indie Authors Monthly is a new magazine geared with a focus on exceptional Indie Authors and readers. We aim to connect readers with…

via Children’s Author Carole P. Roman Creates New Indie Author Magazine — eBook Review Gal

Filed under: Writing

“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

I (Sally) update this ever-changing post of ongoing mini-reviews of certain TV and Netflix shows with our opinions (begun in fall, 2015). Check on Fridays! And, maintaining a “news” section, below, with rumors and truths of upcoming TV and Netflix shows. I also add to reviews of many previously reviewed shows with new info and opinions often, so check below “new” if you’re interested in those updates.

This is Report 24 for May 19, 2017, UPDATED June 5; next full post, mid-July, 2017.

TRUTH, RUMORS and PROBABILITIES:

—Emmy® Award winner, Stephen Colbert, of THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT, will host the 69th PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS LIVE on Sunday, Sept. 17, 8:00-11:00 PM, Eastern, on CBS

—[BTW: I hate this phrase, “support the troops,” because it means that the excessively jingoistic and testosterone-fueled, for-profit, USA military-industrial complex is boosting yet another war at poor people’s expense in some distant locale, while said troops have “volunteered” to go murder and cause mayhem for dubious purposes and even worse outcomes. Rant over. Meanwhile, TV producers and actors wax rhapsodic and tout that phrase when military-themed shows arise, and this fall is no exception.]

I doubt if I will watch any of these, but my mom might.

——-S.W.A.T. stars Criminal Minds‘ popular Shemar Moore (in the role Samuel L. Jackson originated in 2003) on CBS.

——-David Boreanaz barely unpacks from his vacation after ending Bones to star in SEAL Team, also on CBS.

—— Mike Vogel (from Under the Dome) and Anne Heche star in The Brave on NBC.

——- Not to be left out, the CW is hosting Valor, starring Matt Barr.

—Kyra Sedgwick returns to star in what should probably be/have been a one-and-done Lifetime channel’s movie and is probably not even going to last one season on ABC, Ten Days in the Valley. Woman’s child is kidnapped. She tries to find her. A series? I do not think so.

—Shonda Rhimes wants to compete with the Chicago TV shows’ CBS franchise, so Grey’s Anatomy and is having a firefighters’ spinoff; still untitled and premier date unknown.

—NBC will have a Broadway-filmed “live” (at filming time) showing of Jesus Christ Superstar on Easter Sunday, 2018. If you’ve never seen it, very worth it. It’s brilliant. One of the first “rock operas” of the 1960s-1970s, it has almost no dialogue and many amazing songs. Much more serious and politicized/satirical than Godspell, but the same story.

—Also inexplicably (to me), ABC is airing The Little Mermaid as a “sing-along,” mixing “real-life singing with animated songs” in October, 2017. I guess kids will like it.

—We never watched the original and do not plan to watch this reboot (even though the cast is slightly more “diverse”) but some will enjoy the revival of Dynasty on the CW, which could be good: it’s from the creators of Gossip Girl. Fall, 2017, premier.

—Also on our not-watching list, but nevertheless exciting to many who love Big Bang Theory, the backstory of one of its precocious genius characters’ childhood is to be featured in Young Sheldon on CBS this fall, 2017.

—Everwood is being re-run and may be poised to be revived as well, on the CW. The show originally ran 2002-2006 with Gregory Smith and Vivien Cardone, along with Emily vanCamp and Chris Pratt playing pairs of teen siblings (Greg, Emily and Vivien actually were teens for the first few years). Starring Treat Williams and Tom Amandes as rival doctors/their respective fathers, it was fun, easy on the mind and eyes entertainment. My mom never saw it, so we’ll probably watch (I already saw most of the episodes). Premier date not set, yet.

—One of the most significant influences on my and many others’ lives was a science-fiction book published in the 1960s by Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, and this now “classic tale of a human raised by Martians is being adapted into a television series”! This is a “a co-production between Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions” being developed for the SyFy network. Premier date not set, yet.

—Roseanne is being revived and will premier on ABC mid-season, 2017-18. Even John Goodman‘s character (who died in their last season) will return (presumably in “new” flashbacks).

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Roseanne Barr, of course, will return, as will former cast members, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Fishman and Lecy Goranson, with Sarah Chalke also back, but in a different role. I never watched the original except in clips (in my no-TV years), but I might give this a watch. Mom says: “Yuck.”

—PSYCH is returning to the network that created it, USA, just for a “Holiday movie,” in 2017. Oooh: I hope they sing, again! So fun. I miss this show!

“…[F]eaturing fake psychic detective, Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his best friend, Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill), the team will reunite once again… when the two-hour special premiers this December. Psych creator, Steve Franks, who co-wrote the movie with Roday, is directing. Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), Juliet (Maggie Lawson), Henry (Corbin Bernsen), and Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) will also return for the movie, which picks up three years after the series finale.”

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—Emergency Response drama, 9-1-1, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, starring Angela Bassett, premieres mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX.

—A.P. Bio NBC (mid-season, 2017-2018)

Sounds interesting: Patton Oswalt (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and others I have never heard of or seen (yet) are starring in a comedy about a “cynical Ivy League professor [who] loses out on his dream job and goes to work as a high school biology teacher where he imposes his unorthodox teaching style and uses the kids to plot out revenge on those who wronged him.” Hmmmm.

—Premier date is unclear, but Deception, ABC, sounds interesting. I don’t recognize the names or faces of any of the stars, though. PR says: “When his career is ruined by scandal, superstar magician, Cameron Black, has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, illusion, and influence — the FBI. He’ll become the world’s first consulting illusionist, helping the government solve crimes that defy explanation and trap criminals and spies by using deception.”

Sounds like a White Collar and The Mentalist mash-up. We liked both those shows, so we’ll probably give it a try.

—Another possibility: For the People, a courtroom drama scheduled some time in 2017-18 on ABC. We sometimes like these, but they can be SUPER boring if not done right. Bull, yes. Chicago Justice, no. We do recognize some of the stars, so we’ll try it.

Features Ben Rappaport (Mr. Robot, The Good Wife), Hope Davis (American Crime), Anna Deavere Smith (Nurse Jackie), Lyndon Smith (Parenthood), Ben Shenkman (Royal Pains), and some others.

Blurb: “Set in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, aka “The Mother Court,” the drama follows brand-new lawyers working for both the defense and the prosecution handling the most high-profile and high-stakes federal cases in the country — all as their lives intersect in and out of the courtroom.”

—Dylan McDermott is coming back with a workplace comedy, mid-season 2017-2018, FOX, LA TO VEGAS. We miss Pure Genius.

—One of my long-time faves, Amy Acker, is set to star in The Gifted, another show from Marvel comics (but not with Joss Whedon at the helm) on Fox, mid-season 2017-2018, co-parenting [with Stephen Moyer (True Blood)] a troupe of mutant children. Probably too much violence and fighting, but we’ll give it a try.

Also stars some others I/we have liked: Coby Bell (Burn Notice), Sean Teale (Reign, Incorporated), Emma Dumont (Aquarius, Bunheads).

Says it’s about “a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.”

—FOX plans to air a LIVE production of the Tony-award-winning musical, RENT, some time this next year. Well-worth watching, I’m sure.

—I’m kind of bored with autistic savant characters (they’re EVERYWHERE, now, aren’t they?), but this series may be interesting, despite the trite trope. The Good Doctor premiers on ABC starring Freddie Highmore in the title role, and including a couple of familiar faces [Richard Schiff (The West Wing) and Hill Harper (Covert Affairs, CSI: NY)], so we’ll try it.

—Another great cast for a new show with a shaky premise, IMO: Reverie, on NBC, brings Sarah Shahi (Person of Interest), Dennis Haysbert (24), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes), Kathryn Morris (Cold Case) and Jessica Lu (Awkward) for an as-yet-undetermined premier date, midseason, 2017-2018.

It purports to be a “grounded and dramatic thriller about a former detective specializing in human behavior who is brought in when the launch of an advanced virtual reality program has dangerous and unintended consequences.” No premier date, yet.

—We’ll be glad to see Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) back in Instinct on CBS , if they can figure out when to start showing it. No premier date, yet.

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock (7450455h)
Alan Cumming
44th International Emmy Awards, New York, USA – 21 Nov 2016

Cumming plays “a former CIA operative who has since built a ‘normal’ life as a gifted professor and writer [who] is pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer on the loose. Based on the soon-to-be-published James Patterson book.”

—Seemingly a mash-up of Glee and Mr. Holland’s Opus, Rise brings in the drama classes for a new show we might like, on NBC. Starts mid-season, 2017-18, starring some cool peeps: Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Rosie Perez (Search Party, Lipstick Jungle), and many others pretending to be teens, I’m sure.

The show “centers on a high school drama teacher and family man whose passion for the program and his students galvanizes the entire working class town. Based on Michael Sokolove’s book, Drama High, which itself is based on real-life drama teacher, Lou Volpe.”

—Orville, on FOX, is probably going to try too hard and be terrible, but what if it’s great? HAVE to watch at least one episode, right? But, it hasn’t got a start date, yet; they plan to air on Thursdays.

It has quite a cast: Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), Adrianne Palicki (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Penny Johnson Jerald (Castle), Scott Grimes (ER), Peter Macon (Shameless), J Lee (Family Guy), Halston Sage (Crisis)

And, potentially, a great premise: “Set 300 years in the future, the hour-long dramedy follows the adventures of the Orville, a not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship, in Earth’s interstellar Fleet. Facing cosmic challenges from without and within, this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before.”

—Emily vanCamp (Revenge, Everwood) and Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife) will star in a FOX medical drama series, The Resident, planned for mid-season, 2017-2018.

—Jacqueline Bisset to star in Journey to Miyakojima, which is scheduled to begin shooting October, 2017, in Japan. “The family drama centers on ‘a quietly ailing’ family matriarch [Bisset] and NBA team owner who hopes to ‘reunite her shattered family at a serene island off the coast of Okinawa, thousands of miles away from home.’…She convinces her granddaughter, who suffers from an eating disorder that’s getting increasingly serious, to stay at a guesthouse on the island, ‘where its beauty, a chance meeting with a treasure hunter, and a century-old shipwreck heal their wounds.’”

—The X-Files reboot, which I, a faithful fan who watched every episode of the original series, thought was TERRIBLE, has just been RENEWED and plans to return mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX. Who makes these decisions?

—Gina Torres WILL star in a SUITS spin-off, because it will film in LA (where she lives) instead of the usual Toronto-for-NYC. Watch her on SUITS in the final winter, 2017, Episode (a brief return, only, for this season), then, watch for Torres to headline and produce the new series centered on her Suits character, Jessica Pearson.

—Sonia Braga to star in Las Reinas, a new ABC detective drama, probably for fall, 2017.

—Casey Wilson, Busy Philipps and Tina Fey are teaming up for The Sackett Sisters. Wilson and Philipps play sisters, with Bradley Whitford as their father, in the Fey-produced NBC comedy pilot, which may or may not get picked up for 2017-18.

—Connie Britton has already risen from the dead Rayna James (Nashville) to play a leading role in Nicole Holofcener’s upcoming Netflix ensemble dramedy, The Land of Steady Habits—based on Ted Thompson’s 2014 novel of the same name—along with Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline), and Thomas Mann (Fargo). Look for it later in 2017.

—Lauren Graham is set to star in Linda from HR, a comedy for Fox.

“The show will center on the ‘one bad decision’ that throws ‘Linda from HR’s monotonous, unfulfilled life into an exciting but dangerous tailspin of balancing work life, home life, and a secret that could unravel everything.’”

We/I liked these shows, listed below, and many were left very unfinished; but, too bad (so, reviews were not kept, below, unless show has one more season or partial season still to run):

Scandal (big shock, here!) — CANCELLED;

The Catch — CANCELLED;

Frequency— CANCELLED;

Pitch —CANCELLED;

Notorious— CANCELLED;

APB —CANCELLED;

Sun Records— CANCELLED;

Pure Genius— CANCELLED;

Reign— CANCELLED;

Bones— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Saving Hope— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Orphan Black— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Rosewood— CANCELLED/ENDED.

We didn’t like or keep watching these, anyway:

Emerald City —CANCELLED;

Time after Time —CANCELLED;

No Tomorrow —CANCELLED;

Shots Fired — CANCELLED;

Incorporated— CANCELLED;

Imaginary Mary— CANCELLED;

Making History— CANCELLED;

Powerless— CANCELLED;

Feed the Beast— CANCELLED;

Chicago Justice— CANCELLED;

Rogue— CANCELLED.

A few others we liked are showing as TBD for their the 2017-2018 season. I no longer have my reviews, here, if they showed up as cancelled, but stay tuned.

The networks did this awful ploy of pitting one show against another for which one gets to remain on the schedule. I suppose they’re hoping to get viewers to write/email/text/tweet about their favorites; nothing about quality, of course. Sigh.

This is the twenty-fourth post, for 4 weeks ending 5/19/17 (but updated until next post as we go along). I continue to note the updated (as of 6/9/17) TBD or RENEWED shows, below, which can be found here in its entirety (many shows we do not watch, on this site’s list): http://renewcanceltv.com/cancelled-ended-tv-shows-2016-17-season/1/

For the shows we watch, I put each one’s status beneath its review or listing, when it is known.

Also, I have been steadily removing my reviews or expectations for/of all shows that have been discontinued/cancelled since we started this series of posts in 2015.

BACKGROUND

My mom, 84, and I (62) are probably not the “target demographic” for almost any show on television or any movie being produced currently. We live in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, USA (Midwest, for those of you unfamiliar: think of that huge “Gateway Arch”? That’s here). I grew up here but then didn’t live here for 42 years; I’ve been back for about two years, now. We were both raised Jewish, but I have been a meditator since 1972 and a practicing Buddhist since 1996. We are both Caucasian women-born-women. We are considered “middle class” although we have almost zero dollars of “disposable income.” My mom is hetero; I am bisexual. We are both partly disabled. I am highly educated (doctoral degree plus other training); my mom has extensive work-experience, with a high school diploma.

My mom has been a TV watcher for over 60 years. I watched a lot as a kid, but from about 1972 – 2002, I didn’t have a TV and hardly watched it elsewhere, either. I usually didn’t have a TV between 2005 – 2014 as well, but I watched some shows online (Hulu, usually) or Netflix.

We think we should be part of a group that at least some producers are aiming to please, because we (especially Mom) now watch a lot of television. We also get movies regularly from DVD borrowing through our local library. We even occasionally go to a theatre to see a movie. We eagerly await the “new season” of television every one of the four times it seems to occur every year: “Fall Sweeps” happen, but so do Mid-season Sweeps, Mid-year New Seasons, and channels with an entirely different set of “seasons.”

We also occasionally watch TV shows and movies on Netflix!

However, we are consistently disappointed that many shows we do like are cancelled and some shows we despise seem to go on forever.

AND: “Why does none of these bakers ever wear a baker’s hat or a hairnet? Their hair is all over the food. Disgusting!” says my mom.

ALSO: “Why is it always so dark in all these shows? I can’t see a thing. What is the point?” We both say this.

Again, for the middle of May, 2017, I/we continue with this Report.

We don’t watch: most “sit-coms,” any zombies or vampires, reality shows (except one on BBC), extremely violent shows, premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Starz), most YA/”teen” shows.

Keep up with the changes! http://thefutoncritic.com/guide/

or here, for the schedule (as of May 18, 2017, for May and future months): http://renewcanceltv.com/tv-show-premiere-dates-2017-complete-guide/5/

TV + Netflix Reviews and News

Our planned evening viewing line-up for shows (updated frequently) is as follows, sort of in calendar order, BUT, those I’ve already reviewed get “bumped” to the bottom of this post.

Scroll down if you don’t see a show “on top” that you want to read my review of (because they’re so insightful!).

NOTE: Our viewing “schedule” includes a lot of recording-and-watching-later, due to simultaneous broadcasts, CARDINALS‘ BASEBALL! and my early bedtime.

**usually only Mom watches

*usually only I watch

Use http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/spring-2017-grid/ for scheduling dates/times, as of 5/18/17.

AND, get ready for summer with this link: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/summer-2017-grid/, updated as of 5/18/17

*New /Returning Cable, Public & Network TV Shows

*American Epic PBS (started airing 5/16/17)

A musical history documentary and additional music sessions filmed, presented by T Bone Burnett, Robert Redford, Jack White. FMI: http://www.americanepic.com/

You can watch this online or locally; check your listings. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/american-epic/

This award-winning BBC documentary was broken into three episodes for PBS, each of which details a particular era or aspect of the roots of Black and midwestern/southern and Native American music, including blues, gospel, ragtime and other uniquely American styles, in video, photography, interviews, recordings, and archived stories.

I watched the first Episode, “Blood and Soil,” and it was great! Planning to watch the other two.

Fascinating, wonderful!

King Charles III PBS (Masterpiece; premiered 5/14/17)

PLEASE watch this fabulous production of a surreal/realistic and extremely controversial, brilliant, Tony-nominated play by Mike Bartlett about the British royal family. This fable-like story begins in modern times, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II (which could occur any day; she is over 90!) and continues, in Shakespearean blank verse (!?), through the aftermath for Prince/King Charles III, Prince William and Kate, and Harry as well as various fictionalized parliamentarians and ministers.

Starring the recently deceased (April, 2017) Tim Pigott-Smith, as King Charles; with Oliver Chris and Charlotte Riley as Prince William and Kate; Richard Goulding plays Prince Harry. Also features Margot Leicester as Camilla; Adam James as the fictional PM; and, the love interest for William, played by Tamara Lawrance.

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Look for it online http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/king-charles-iii/ if not on your PBS station. AND, stay tuned to watch the extra 30 minutes of “Behind the Scenes,” included after the 90-minute play, with the playwright, director and many of the key actors, all of whom are recreating their stage roles for the screen production.

FASCINATING and well worth your time

The Bletchley Circle Netflix (2 “seasons,” 3 Episodes, each)

After watching and loving the film, Hidden Figures, we found this excellent series featuring some more strong, brilliant women who were code-breakers during WW II and then solve mysteries in post-World War II London. Kind of gruesome in parts, but very well-written and -acted. Terrible shame that it was cancelled after Season 2, which had two 2-part stories (4 episodes).

Worth your time

*American Masters on PBS: The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson, PBS (Check online: http://www.pbs.org for video replays of this and all PBS specials.)

This wonderful biographical documentary was aired quite a while ago, but I finally got around to watching it this week (mid-May). So moving, interesting, informative, yet, also, quite sad, especially given the current administration’s idiocy regarding the department she fought so hard to start, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Rachel Carson was a brilliant scientist, writer and environmentalist (one of the world’s very first) who saved countless lives by advocating for stricter long-term testing for pesticides and other chemicals that the USA’s corporations and government were so cavalierly throwing around in the 1940s – 1960s. Horribly and ironically, she died of cancer at the young age of 56, or she would have done so much more.

The Sea Around Us and Silent Spring are STILL best-selling nonfiction books. READ THEM!

Well worth your time.

Dirty Dancing (film, remake) ABC (premiered 5/24/17)

Both my mom and I are HUGE fans of the original (we have seen it more than a half-dozen times, each), and we are JEWISH. So, our opinions of this remake count, HUGELY. It’s billed as “a three-hour filmed musical event” to “celebrate its 30th anniversary” with a lot of hype to live up to, which does not help its chances of succeeding.

This starts out all right, but without Patrick Swayze, we found it very sad. We kept having to decide whether or not to keep watching; it was that mediocre/bad.

Colt Prattes, who plays Johnny, has very little to none of Swayze‘s charisma, sexiness or extreme talent. MISFIRE, here. Pratton seemed to be channeling John Travolta‘s Grease character more than Johnny’s in the original film.

The female main characters were a mixed bag of seemingly overweight (Abigail Breslin as Baby, Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman, and Sarah Hyland as older sister, Lisa (were they in padding or what?) and miscast leads. While we applaud not always having anorexics as dancers, it is not credible that the awkward Breslin can become a great dancer in the given 2 weeks or fewer of the plotline.

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Best casting choices were: Nicole Scherzinger as Penny; Katey Sagal as the older “cougar” character (who can sing very well, BTW); and Shane Harper as the predatory waiter, Robbie.

Where did all the African-American resort staff characters come from? Very few were in the original, because Jewish-owned resorts didn’t hire many non-Anglo workers back then. So, why feature so many in this supposedly faithful remake and never once mention the concurrent civil rights demonstrations, which were very prominent in the summer of 1963 (the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ring any bells?)? Diversity casting only works when it fits the era. Am I wrong? For example, Billy Dee Williams as the Black/Cubano bandleader worked fine.

Similarly, why cast a very non-Jewish-vibing actor as Baby? (Breslin‘s bio lists her as having a Jewish father and being “Jewishish,” whatever that means. Breslin was also too old (over 21 as opposed to just 18, a difference which does show) to play the role, and she’s not even a strong dancer. There are plenty of Jewish actors who are age-appropriate and better dancers who could have played this iconic part.

Also featured were a very non-Jerry Orbach-ish Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Jake Houseman, with Tony Roberts, Trevor Einhorn, J. Quinton Johnson, Beau “Casper” Smart.

This reboot had some heavy-hitters behind and in it, such as: Grammy Award-nominee, Adam Anders (Glee, Rock of Ages), who also serves as executive music producer, and Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, Bring It On, In the Heights) as the choreographer. Didn’t help.

The film PR stated that it included “memorable songs from the original movie” and “additional songs from the era,” but why include remakes of songs that definitely did NOT need remaking )(“Hungry Eyes,” “She’s Like the Wind”)? Just to honor Patrick Swayze, this film should have used his and Jennifer Warnes‘ perfect version of that class-conflict-love song. The new version’s arrangement of “She’s Like the Wind” was so TERRIBLE as to almost have been unrecognizable. WHY?

And, having all the main characters sing as well as act or dance/act was interesting but completely unnecessary. The only exception was the requisite final talent show number that starred the adorable Hyland and Johnson, who did an inexplicably Hawaiian version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Thing Twice, It’s All Right,” which was excellent.

There are some important “marks” to hit in such a beloved remake, of both lines, emotions and actions, and only some of them were included at all; most were not done well, if done. The additions/changes to the storyline, on the other hand, added time and drama or left out key parts, and nothing significant was contributed to the story (e.g.: the divorce/not divorce marriage/intimacy problems of the parents: who cares?; and, the sabotage of Johnny being at the hands of the resort owner’s slimy nephew, Neil, and the desperate Sagal character rather than the deed having been done by the elderly grifters in the original).

And, if you think MY review was harsh, read this one, from Rolling Stone’s Jenna Scherer: http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/recaps/dirty-dancing-10-most-wtf-moments-from-abcs-tv-remake-w484152

Barely a C- grade. Watch if you are a fan; prepare to be disappointed

*Still Star-Crossed ABC (premiers 5/29/17)

Shonda Rhimes‘ latest offering is a “period piece,” aka, historical drama, supposedly a “sequel” to Romeo & Juliet (based on a Melinda Taub novel), about the two families’ reactions and the political intrigues that occur after R & J’s deaths.

Starring Anthony Stewart Head (yes, from Buffy!) Sterling Sulieman, Lashana Lynch, Wade Briggs, Rahimi Isabella (The Catch) and Torrance Coombs (The Reign).

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“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

I (Sally) update this ever-changing post of ongoing mini-reviews of certain TV and Netflix shows with our opinions (begun in fall, 2015). Check on Fridays! And, maintaining a “news” section, below, with rumors and truths of upcoming TV and Netflix shows. I also add to reviews of many previously reviewed shows with new info and opinions often, so check below “new” if you’re interested in those updates.

This is Report 24 for May 19, 2017, UPDATED June 5; next full post, mid-July, 2017.

TRUTH, RUMORS and PROBABILITIES:

—Emmy® Award winner, Stephen Colbert, of THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT, will host the 69th PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS LIVE on Sunday, Sept. 17, 8:00-11:00 PM, Eastern, on CBS

—[BTW: I hate this phrase, “support the troops,” because it means that the excessively jingoistic and testosterone-fueled, for-profit, USA military-industrial complex is boosting yet another war at poor people’s expense in some distant locale, while said troops have “volunteered” to go murder and cause mayhem for dubious purposes and even worse outcomes. Rant over. Meanwhile, TV producers and actors wax rhapsodic and tout that phrase when military-themed shows arise, and this fall is no exception.]

I doubt if I will watch any of these, but my mom might.

——-S.W.A.T. stars Criminal Minds‘ popular Shemar Moore (in the role Samuel L. Jackson originated in 2003) on CBS.

——-David Boreanaz barely unpacks from his vacation after ending Bones to star in SEAL Team, also on CBS.

—— Mike Vogel (from Under the Dome) and Anne Heche star in The Brave on NBC.

——- Not to be left out, the CW is hosting Valor, starring Matt Barr.

—Kyra Sedgwick returns to star in what should probably be/have been a one-and-done Lifetime channel’s movie and is probably not even going to last one season on ABC, Ten Days in the Valley. Woman’s child is kidnapped. She tries to find her. A series? I do not think so.

—Shonda Rhimes wants to compete with the Chicago TV shows’ CBS franchise, so Grey’s Anatomy and is having a firefighters’ spinoff; still untitled and premier date unknown.

—NBC will have a Broadway-filmed “live” (at that time) showing of Jesus Christ Superstar on Easter Sunday, 2018. If you’ve never seen it, very worth it. It’s brilliant. One of the first “rock operas” of the 1960s-1970s, it has almost no dialogue and many amazing songs. Much more serious and politicized/satirical than Godspell, but the same story.

—Also inexplicably (to me), ABC is airing The Little Mermaid as a “sing-along,” mixing “real-life singing with animated songs” in October, 2017. I guess kids will like it.

—We never watched the original and do not plan to watch this reboot (even though the cast is slightly more “diverse”) but some will enjoy the revival of Dynasty on the CW, which could be good: it’s from the creators of Gossip Girl. Fall, 2017, premier.

—Also on our not-watching list, but nevertheless exciting to many who love Big Bang Theory, the backstory of one of its precocious genius characters’ childhood is to be featured in Young Sheldon on CBS this fall, 2017.

—Everwood is being re-run and may be poised to be revived as well, on the CW. The show originally ran 2002-2006 with Gregory Smith and Vivien Cardone, along with Emily vanCamp and Chris Pratt playing pairs of teen siblings (Greg, Emily and Vivien actually were teens for the first few years). Starring Treat Williams and Tom Amandes as rival doctors/their respective fathers, it was fun, easy on the mind and eyes entertainment. My mom never saw it, so we’ll probably watch (I already saw most of the episodes). Premier date not set, yet.

—One of the most significant influences on my and many others’ lives was a science-fiction book published in the 1960s by Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, and this now “classic tale of a human raised by Martians is being adapted into a television series”! This is a “a co-production between Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions” being developed for the SyFy network. Premier date not set, yet.

—Roseanne is being revived and will premier on ABC mid-season, 2017-18. Even John Goodman‘s character (who died in their last season) will return (presumably in “new” flashbacks).

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Roseanne Barr, of course, will return, as will former cast members, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Fishman and Lecy Goranson, with Sarah Chalke also back, but in a different role. I never watched the original except in clips (in my no-TV years), but I might give this a watch. Mom says: “Yuck.”

—PSYCH is returning to the network that created it, USA, just for a “Holiday movie,” in 2017. Oooh: I hope they sing, again! So fun. I miss this show!

“…[F]eaturing fake psychic detective, Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his best friend, Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill), the team will reunite once again… when the two-hour special premiers this December. Psych creator, Steve Franks, who co-wrote the movie with Roday, is directing. Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), Juliet (Maggie Lawson), Henry (Corbin Bernsen), and Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) will also return for the movie, which picks up three years after the series finale.”

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—Emergency Response drama, 9-1-1, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, starring Angela Bassett, premieres mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX.

—A.P. Bio NBC (mid-season, 2017-2018)

Sounds interesting: Patton Oswalt (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and others I have never heard of or seen (yet) are starring in a comedy about a “cynical Ivy League professor [who] loses out on his dream job and goes to work as a high school biology teacher where he imposes his unorthodox teaching style and uses the kids to plot out revenge on those who wronged him.” Hmmmm.

—Premier date is unclear, but Deception, ABC, sounds interesting. I don’t recognize the names or faces of any of the stars, though. PR says: “When his career is ruined by scandal, superstar magician, Cameron Black, has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, illusion, and influence — the FBI. He’ll become the world’s first consulting illusionist, helping the government solve crimes that defy explanation and trap criminals and spies by using deception.”

Sounds like a White Collar and The Mentalist mash-up. We liked both those shows, so we’ll probably give it a try.

—Another possibility: For the People, a courtroom drama scheduled some time in 2017-18 on ABC. We sometimes like these, but they can be SUPER boring if not done right. Bull, yes. Chicago Justice, no. We do recognize some of the stars, so we’ll try it.

Features Ben Rappaport (Mr. Robot, The Good Wife), Hope Davis (American Crime), Anna Deavere Smith (Nurse Jackie), Lyndon Smith (Parenthood), Ben Shenkman (Royal Pains), and some others.

Blurb: “Set in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, aka “The Mother Court,” the drama follows brand-new lawyers working for both the defense and the prosecution handling the most high-profile and high-stakes federal cases in the country — all as their lives intersect in and out of the courtroom.”

—Dylan McDermott is coming back with a workplace comedy, mid-season 2017-2018, FOX, LA TO VEGAS. We miss Pure Genius.

—Sean Hayes, Debra Messing, Eric McCormack and Megan Mulally are back for Will & Grace in fall, 2017, NBC; now 9 PM on Thursdays. YEA!

—One of my long-time faves, Amy Acker, is set to star in The Gifted, another show from Marvel comics (but not with Joss Whedon at the helm) on Fox, mid-season 2017-2018, co-parenting [with Stephen Moyer (True Blood)] a troupe of mutant children. Probably too much violence and fighting, but we’ll give it a try.

Also stars some others I/we have liked: Coby Bell (Burn Notice), Sean Teale (Reign, Incorporated), Emma Dumont (Aquarius, Bunheads).

Says it’s about “a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.”

—FOX plans to air a LIVE production of the Tony-award-winning musical, RENT, some time this next year. Well-worth watching, I’m sure.

—I’m kind of bored with autistic savant characters (they’re EVERYWHERE, now, aren’t they?), but this series may be interesting, despite the trite trope. The Good Doctor premiers on ABC starring Freddie Highmore in the title role, and including a couple of familiar faces [Richard Schiff (The West Wing) and Hill Harper (Covert Affairs, CSI: NY)], so we’ll try it.

—Another great cast for a new show with a shaky premise, IMO: Reverie, on NBC, brings Sarah Shahi (Person of Interest), Dennis Haysbert (24), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes), Kathryn Morris (Cold Case) and Jessica Lu (Awkward) for an as-yet-undetermined premier date, midseason, 2017-2018.

It purports to be a “grounded and dramatic thriller about a former detective specializing in human behavior who is brought in when the launch of an advanced virtual reality program has dangerous and unintended consequences.”

—We’ll be glad to see Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) back in Instinct on CBS , if they can figure out when to start showing it.

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock (7450455h)
Alan Cumming
44th International Emmy Awards, New York, USA – 21 Nov 2016

Cumming plays “a former CIA operative who has since built a ‘normal’ life as a gifted professor and writer [who] is pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer on the loose. Based on the soon-to-be-published James Patterson book.”

—Seemingly a mash-up of Glee and Mr. Holland’s Opus, Rise brings in the drama classes for a new show we might like, on NBC. Starts mid-season, 2017-18, starring some cool peeps: Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Rosie Perez (Search Party, Lipstick Jungle), and many others pretending to be teens, I’m sure.

The show “centers on a high school drama teacher and family man whose passion for the program and his students galvanizes the entire working class town. Based on Michael Sokolove’s book, Drama High, which itself is based on real-life drama teacher, Lou Volpe.”

—Orville, on FOX, is probably going to try too hard and be terrible, but what if it’s great? HAVE to watch at least one episode, right? But, it hasn’t got a start date, yet; they plan to air on Thursdays.

It has quite a cast: Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), Adrianne Palicki (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Penny Johnson Jerald (Castle), Scott Grimes (ER), Peter Macon (Shameless), J Lee (Family Guy), Halston Sage (Crisis)

And, potentially, a great premise: “Set 300 years in the future, the hour-long dramedy follows the adventures of the Orville, a not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship, in Earth’s interstellar Fleet. Facing cosmic challenges from without and within, this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before.”

—So, one network ditches APB but another picks up a show with an almost-identical premise, stolen from Israel. Really? Just bring back APB, please? I guess not.

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CBS is airing Wisdom of the Crowd (premiers 8:30 Eastern, 10/1/17, Sunday) starring Jeremy Piven (Entourage, Mr. Selfridge), Monica Potter (Parenthood) and a bunch more, to run a crowd-funded/sourced version of APB:

“Inspired by the notion that a million minds are better than one, a tech innovator creates a cutting edge crowd-sourcing hub to solve his own daughter’s murder, as well as revolutionizing crime solving in San Francisco. Based on the Israeli format of the same name.”

—9JKL, coming on CBS (premiers Monday, 8:30 PM Eastern, 10/2), has a very good cast with a very stupid-sounding premise. Supposedly based on some true-life experiences of its star, Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains), his parents (played by the great Linda Lavin and Elliott Gould, and his other relatives all in one apartment building for a while. Why?

—Emily vanCamp (Revenge, Everwood) and Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife) will star in a FOX medical drama series, The Resident, planned for mid-season, 2017-2018.

—Jacqueline Bisset to star in Journey to Miyakojima, which is scheduled to begin shooting October, 2017, in Japan. “The family drama centers on ‘a quietly ailing’ family matriarch [Bisset] and NBA team owner who hopes to ‘reunite her shattered family at a serene island off the coast of Okinawa, thousands of miles away from home.’…She convinces her granddaughter, who suffers from an eating disorder that’s getting increasingly serious, to stay at a guesthouse on the island, ‘where its beauty, a chance meeting with a treasure hunter, and a century-old shipwreck heal their wounds.’”

—The X-Files reboot, which I, a faithful fan who watched every episode of the original series, thought was TERRIBLE, has just been RENEWED and plans to return mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX. Who makes these decisions?

—Gina Torres WILL star in a SUITS spin-off, because it will film in LA (where she lives) instead of the usual Toronto-for-NYC. Watch her on SUITS in the final winter, 2017, Episode (a brief return, only, for this season), then, watch for Torres to headline and produce the new series centered on her Suits character, Jessica Pearson.

—Sonia Braga to star in Las Reinas, a new ABC detective drama, probably for fall, 2017.

—Casey Wilson, Busy Philipps and Tina Fey are teaming up for The Sackett Sisters. Wilson and Philipps play sisters, with Bradley Whitford as their father, in the Fey-produced NBC comedy pilot, which may or may not get picked up for 2017-18.

—Connie Britton has already risen from the dead Rayna James (Nashville) to play a leading role in Nicole Holofcener’s upcoming Netflix ensemble dramedy, The Land of Steady Habits—based on Ted Thompson’s 2014 novel of the same name—along with Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline), and Thomas Mann (Fargo). Look for it later in 2017.

—Lauren Graham is set to star in Linda from HR, a comedy for Fox.

“The show will center on the ‘one bad decision’ that throws ‘Linda from HR’s monotonous, unfulfilled life into an exciting but dangerous tailspin of balancing work life, home life, and a secret that could unravel everything.’”

We/I liked these shows, listed below, and many were left very unfinished; but, too bad (so, reviews were not kept, below, unless show has one more season or partial season still to run):

Scandal (big shock, here!) — CANCELLED;

The Catch — CANCELLED;

Frequency— CANCELLED;

Pitch —CANCELLED;

Notorious— CANCELLED;

APB —CANCELLED;

Sun Records— CANCELLED;

Pure Genius— CANCELLED;

Reign— CANCELLED;

Bones— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Saving Hope— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Orphan Black— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Rosewood— CANCELLED/ENDED.

We didn’t like or keep watching these, anyway:

Emerald City —CANCELLED;

Time after Time —CANCELLED;

No Tomorrow —CANCELLED;

Shots Fired — CANCELLED;

Incorporated— CANCELLED;

Imaginary Mary— CANCELLED;

Making History— CANCELLED;

Powerless— CANCELLED;

Feed the Beast— CANCELLED;

Chicago Justice— CANCELLED;

Rogue— CANCELLED.

A few others we liked are showing as TBD for their the 2017-2018 season. I no longer have my reviews, here, if they showed up as cancelled, but stay tuned.

The networks did this awful ploy of pitting one show against another for which one gets to remain on the schedule. I suppose they’re hoping to get viewers to write/email/text/tweet about their favorites; nothing about quality, of course. Sigh.

This is the twenty-fourth post, for 4 weeks ending 5/19/17 (but updated until next post as we go along). I continue to note the updated (as of 5/18/17) TBD or RENEWED shows, below, which can be found here in its entirety (many shows we do not watch, on this site’s list): http://renewcanceltv.com/cancelled-ended-tv-shows-2016-17-season/1/

For the shows we watch, I put each one’s status beneath its review or listing, when it is known.

Also, I have been steadily removing my reviews or expectations for/of all shows that have been discontinued/cancelled since we started this series of posts in 2015.

BACKGROUND

My mom, 84, and I (62) are probably not the “target demographic” for almost any show on television or any movie being produced currently. We live in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, USA (Midwest, for those of you unfamiliar: think of that huge “Gateway Arch”? That’s here). I grew up here but then didn’t live here for 42 years; I’ve been back for about two years, now. We were both raised Jewish, but I have been a meditator since 1972 and a practicing Buddhist since 1996. We are both Caucasian women-born-women. We are considered “middle class” although we have almost zero dollars of “disposable income.” My mom is hetero; I am bisexual. We are both partly disabled. I am highly educated (doctoral degree plus other training); my mom has extensive work-experience, with a high school diploma.

My mom has been a TV watcher for over 60 years. I watched a lot as a kid, but from about 1972 – 2002, I didn’t have a TV and hardly watched it elsewhere, either. I usually didn’t have a TV between 2005 – 2014 as well, but I watched some shows online (Hulu, usually) or Netflix.

We think we should be part of a group that at least some producers are aiming to please, because we (especially Mom) now watch a lot of television. We also get movies regularly from DVD borrowing through our local library. We even occasionally go to a theatre to see a movie. We eagerly await the “new season” of television every one of the four times it seems to occur every year: “Fall Sweeps” happen, but so do Mid-season Sweeps, Mid-year New Seasons, and channels with an entirely different set of “seasons.”

We also occasionally watch TV shows and movies on Netflix!

However, we are consistently disappointed that many shows we do like are cancelled and some shows we despise seem to go on forever.

AND: “Why does none of these bakers ever wear a baker’s hat or a hairnet? Their hair is all over the food. Disgusting!” says my mom.

ALSO: “Why is it always so dark in all these shows? I can’t see a thing. What is the point?” We both say this.

Again, for the middle of May, 2017, I/we continue with this Report.

We don’t watch: most “sit-coms,” any zombies or vampires, reality shows (except one on BBC), extremely violent shows, premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Starz), most YA/”teen” shows.

Keep up with the changes! http://thefutoncritic.com/guide/

or here, for the schedule (as of May 18, 2017, for May and future months): http://renewcanceltv.com/tv-show-premiere-dates-2017-complete-guide/5/

TV + Netflix Reviews and News

Our planned evening viewing line-up for shows (updated frequently) is as follows, sort of in calendar order, BUT, those I’ve already reviewed get “bumped” to the bottom of this post.

Scroll down if you don’t see a show “on top” that you want to read my review of (because they’re so insightful!).

NOTE: Our viewing “schedule” includes a lot of recording-and-watching-later, due to simultaneous broadcasts, CARDINALS‘ BASEBALL! and my early bedtime.

**usually only Mom watches

*usually only I watch

Use http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/spring-2017-grid/ for scheduling dates/times, as of 5/18/17.

AND, get ready for summer with this link: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/summer-2017-grid/, updated as of 5/18/17

New /Returning Cable, Public & Network TV Shows

*American Epic PBS (started airing 5/16/17)

A musical history documentary, presented by T Bone Burnett, Robert Redford, Jack White. FMI: http://www.americanepic.com/

You can watch this online or locally; check your listings. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/american-epic/

This award-winning BBC documentary was broken into three episodes for PBS, each of which details a particular era or aspect of the roots of Black and midwestern/southern and Native American music, including blues, gospel, ragtime and other uniquely American styles, in video, photography, interviews, recordings, and archived stories.

I watched the first Episode, “Blood and Soil,” and it was great! Planning to watch the other two.

Fascinating, wonderful!

King Charles III PBS (Masterpiece; premiered 5/14/17)

PLEASE watch this fabulous production of a surreal/realistic and extremely controversial, brilliant, Tony-nominated play by Mike Bartlett about the British royal family. This fable-like story begins in modern times, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II (which could occur any day; she is over 90!) and continues, in Shakespearean blank verse (!?), through the aftermath for Prince/King Charles III, Prince William and Kate, and Harry as well as various fictionalized parliamentarians and ministers.

Starring the recently deceased (April, 2017) Tim Pigott-Smith, as King Charles; with Oliver Chris and Charlotte Riley as Prince William and Kate; Richard Goulding plays Prince Harry. Also features Margot Leicester as Camilla; Adam James as the fictional PM; and, the love interest for William, played by Tamara Lawrance.

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Look for it online http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/king-charles-iii/ if not on your PBS station. AND, stay tuned to watch the extra 30 minutes of “Behind the Scenes,” included after the 90-minute play, with the playwright, director and many of the key actors, all of whom are recreating their stage roles for the screen production.

FASCINATING and well worth your time

The Bletchley Circle Netflix (2 “seasons,” 3 Episodes, each)

After watching and loving the film, Hidden Figures, we found this excellent series featuring some more strong, brilliant women who were code-breakers during WW II and then solve mysteries in post-World War II London. Kind of gruesome in parts, but very well-written and -acted. Terrible shame that it was cancelled after Season 2, which had two 2-part stories (4 episodes).

Worth your time

*American Masters on PBS: The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson, PBS (Check online: http://www.pbs.org for video replays of this and all PBS specials.)

This wonderful biographical documentary was aired quite a while ago, but I finally got around to watching it this week (mid-May). So moving, interesting, informative, yet, also, quite sad, especially given the current administration’s idiocy regarding the department she fought so hard to start, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Rachel Carson was a brilliant scientist, writer and environmentalist (one of the world’s very first) who saved countless lives by advocating for stricter long-term testing for pesticides and other chemicals that the USA’s corporations and government were so cavalierly throwing around in the 1940s – 1960s. Horribly and ironically, she died of cancer at the young age of 56, or she would have done so much more.

The Sea Around Us and Silent Spring are STILL best-selling nonfiction books. READ THEM!

Well worth your time.

LATER PREMIERS/RETURNS (not yet reviewed/watched as of 5/19/17)

*American Masters on PBS: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, PBS

(At the Tribeca Film Festival 4/23/17, then aired on PBS; check local listings or watch online, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/video/all-video/?type=episodes)

I have a particular connection to Ms. Lamarr because one of my former partner’s mothers and aunt were her friends—three young women who were beautiful, talented, Jewish Austrians and Holocaust survivors. After they all had escaped from Austria and made their way to Los Angeles during Hitler’s rise in the late 1930s, these three appeared in two movies together (my partner’s relatives had very minor roles). They were also friends with another fellow Jewish Austrian, Johnny Weismuller, known for his roles as Tarzan.

“Hedy Lamarr was the original wild child. Her scandalous nude appearance in the 1933 Czech film, Ecstasy, made her infamous at the age of 17. She married a prominent Austrian businessman who became a weapons dealer to the Nazis. Lamarr, who was born Jewish, fled her husband in the middle of the night, boarding a boat for America with nothing to her name except a single designer gown. On board, she dazzled MGM boss, Louis B. Mayer, and convinced him to offer her one of the best contracts in Hollywood. As a movie star, she was considered by many to be ‘the most beautiful woman in the world.’ Songs were written about her beauty. Snow White [Disney’s original animated version] was modeled on her iconic look. She married six times and had affairs with everyone from Howard Hughes to Spencer Tracy.”

I am especially looking forward to this one

*American Masters on PBS aired Patsy Cline – Up Close, Personal in March, but it was not available here in Missouri; check local listings or watch online: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/video/all-video/?type=episodes)

Rosanne Cash narrated this, with many stars interviewed or on clips.

What a talent! Cline‘s story is sad, but her voice! Mom may watch, but probably not.

I am looking forward to this

Dirty Dancing (film, remake) ABC (premiered 5/24/17)

Both my mom and I are HUGE fans of the original (we have seen it more than a half-dozen times, each), and we are JEWISH. So, our opinions of this remake count, HUGELY. It’s billed as “a three-hour filmed musical event” to “celebrate its 30th anniversary” with a lot of hype to live up to, which does not help its chances of succeeding.

This starts out all right, but without Patrick Swayze, we found it very sad. We kept having to decide whether or not to keep watching; it was that mediocre/bad.

Colt Prattes, who plays Johnny, has very little to none of Swayze‘s charisma, sexiness or extreme talent. MISFIRE, here. Pratton seemed to be channeling John Travolta‘s Grease character more than Johnny’s in the original film.

The female main characters were a mixed bag of seemingly overweight (Abigail Breslin as Baby, Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman, and Sarah Hyland as older sister, Lisa (were they in padding or what?) and miscast leads. While we applaud not always having anorexics as dancers, it is not credible that the awkward Breslin can become a great dancer in the given 2 weeks or fewer of the plotline.

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Best casting choices were: Nicole Scherzinger as Penny; Katey Sagal as the older “cougar” character (who can sing very well, BTW); and Shane Harper as the predatory waiter, Robbie.

Where did all the African-American resort staff characters come from? Very few were in the original, because Jewish-owned resorts didn’t hire many non-Anglo workers back then. So, why feature so many in this supposedly faithful remake and never once mention the concurrent civil rights demonstrations, which were very prominent in the summer of 1963 (the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ring any bells?)? Diversity casting only works when it fits the era. Am I wrong? For example, Billy Dee Williams as the Black/Cubano bandleader worked fine.

Similarly, why cast a very non-Jewish-vibing actor as Baby? (Breslin‘s bio lists her as having a Jewish father and being “Jewishish,” whatever that means. Breslin was also too old (over 21 as opposed to just 18, a difference which does show) to play the role, and she’s not even a strong dancer. There are plenty of Jewish actors who are age-appropriate and better dancers who could have played this iconic part.

Also featured were a very non-Jerry Orbach-ish Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Jake Houseman, with Tony Roberts, Trevor Einhorn, J. Quinton Johnson, Beau “Casper” Smart.

This reboot had some heavy-hitters behind and in it, such as: Grammy Award-nominee, Adam Anders (Glee, Rock of Ages), who also serves as executive music producer, and Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, Bring It On, In the Heights) as the choreographer. Didn’t help.

The film PR stated that it included “memorable songs from the original movie” and “additional songs from the era,” but why include remakes of songs that definitely did NOT need remaking )(“Hungry Eyes,” “She’s Like the Wind”)? Just to honor Patrick Swayze, this film should have used his and Jennifer Warnes‘ perfect version of that class-conflict-love song. The new version’s arrangement of “She’s Like the Wind” was so TERRIBLE as to almost have been unrecognizable. WHY?

And, having all the main characters sing as well as act or dance/act was interesting but completely unnecessary. The only exception was the requisite final talent show number that starred the adorable Hyland and Johnson, who did an inexplicably Hawaiian version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Thing Twice, It’s All Right,” which was excellent.

There are some important “marks” to hit in such a beloved remake, of both lines, emotions and actions, and only some of them were included at all; most were not done well, if done. The additions/changes to the storyline, on the other hand, added time and drama or left out key parts, and nothing significant was contributed to the story (e.g.: the divorce/not divorce marriage/intimacy problems of the parents: who cares?; and, the sabotage of Johnny being at the hands of the resort owner’s slimy nephew, Neil, and the desperate Sagal character rather than the deed having been done by the elderly grifters in the original).

And, if you think MY review was harsh, read this one, from Rolling Stone’s Jenna Scherer: http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/recaps/dirty-dancing-10-most-wtf-moments-from-abcs-tv-remake-w484152

Barely a C- grade. Watch if you are a fan; prepare to be disappointed

*Still Star-Crossed ABC (premiers 5/29/17)

Shonda Rhimes‘ latest offering is a “period piece,” aka, historical drama, supposedly a “sequel” to Romeo & Juliet (based on a Melinda Taub novel), about the two families’ reactions and the political intrigues that occur after R & J’s deaths.

Starring Anthony Stewart Head (yes, from Buffy!) Sterling Sulieman, Lashana Lynch, Wade Briggs, Rahimi Isabella (The Catch) and Torrance Coombs (The Reign).

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“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

I (Sally) update this ever-changing post of ongoing mini-reviews of certain TV and Netflix shows with our opinions (begun in fall, 2015). Check on Fridays! And, maintaining a “news” section, below, with rumors and truths of upcoming TV and Netflix shows. I also add to reviews of many previously reviewed shows with new info and opinions often, so check below “new” if you’re interested in those updates.

This is Report 24 for May 19, 2017, UPDATED May 26; next full post, mid-July, 2017.

TRUTH, RUMORS and PROBABILITIES:

—[BTW: I hate this phrase, “support the troops,” because it means that the excessively jingoistic and testosterone-fueled, for-profit, USA military-industrial complex is boosting yet another war at poor people’s expense in some distant locale, while said troops have “volunteered” to go murder and cause mayhem for dubious purposes and even worse outcomes. Rant over. Meanwhile, TV producers and actors wax rhapsodic and tout that phrase when military-themed shows arise, and this fall is no exception.]

I doubt if I will watch any of these, but my mom might.

——-S.W.A.T. stars Criminal Minds‘ popular Shemar Moore (in the role Samuel L. Jackson originated in 2003) on CBS.

——-David Boreanaz barely unpacks from his vacation after ending Bones to star in SEAL Team, also on CBS.

—— Mike Vogel (from Under the Dome) and Anne Heche star in The Brave on NBC.

——- Not to be left out, the CW is hosting Valor, starring Matt Barr.

—Kyra Sedgwick returns to star in what should probably be/have been a one-and-done Lifetime channel’s movie and is probably not even going to last one season on ABC, Ten Days in the Valley. Woman’s child is kidnapped. She tries to find her. A series? I do not think so.

—Shonda Rhimes wants to compete with the Chicago TV shows’ CBS franchise, so Grey’s Anatomy and is having a firefighters’ spinoff; still untitled and premier date unknown.

—NBC will have a Broadway-filmed “live” (at that time) showing of Jesus Christ Superstar on Easter Sunday, 2018. If you’ve never seen it, very worth it. It’s brilliant. One of the first “rock operas” of the 1960s-1970s, it has almost no dialogue and many amazing songs. Much more serious and politicized/satirical than Godspell, but the same story.

—Also inexplicably (to me), ABC is airing The Little Mermaid as a “sing-along,” mixing “real-life singing with animated songs” in October, 2017. I guess kids will like it.

—We never watched the original and do not plan to watch this reboot (even though the cast is slightly more “diverse”) but some will enjoy the revival of Dynasty on the CW, which could be good: it’s from the creators of Gossip Girl. Fall, 2017, premier.

—Also on our not-watching list, but nevertheless exciting to many who love Big Bang Theory, the backstory of one of its precocious genius characters’ childhood is to be featured in Young Sheldon on CBS this fall, 2017.

—Everwood is being re-run and may be poised to be revived as well, on the CW. The show originally ran 2002-2006 with Gregory Smith and Vivien Cardone, along with Emily vanCamp and Chris Pratt playing pairs of teen siblings (Greg, Emily and Vivien actually were teens for the first few years). Starring Treat Williams and Tom Amandes as rival doctors/their respective fathers, it was fun, easy on the mind and eyes entertainment. My mom never saw it, so we’ll probably watch (I already saw most of the episodes). Premier date not set, yet.

—One of the most significant influences on my and many others’ lives was a science-fiction book published in the 1960s by Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, and this now “classic tale of a human raised by Martians is being adapted into a television series”! This is a “a co-production between Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions” being developed for the SyFy network. Premier date not set, yet.

—Roseanne is being revived and will premier on ABC mid-season, 2017-18. Even John Goodman‘s character (who died in their last season) will return (presumably in “new” flashbacks).

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Roseanne Barr, of course, will return, as will former cast members, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Fishman and Lecy Goranson, with Sarah Chalke also back, but in a different role. I never watched the original except in clips (in my no-TV years), but I might give this a watch. Mom says: “Yuck.”

—PSYCH is returning to the network that created it, USA, just for a “Holiday movie,” in 2017. Oooh: I hope they sing, again! So fun. I miss this show!

“…[F]eaturing fake psychic detective, Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his best friend, Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill), the team will reunite once again… when the two-hour special premiers this December. Psych creator, Steve Franks, who co-wrote the movie with Roday, is directing. Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), Juliet (Maggie Lawson), Henry (Corbin Bernsen), and Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) will also return for the movie, which picks up three years after the series finale.”

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—Emergency Response drama, 9-1-1, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, starring Angela Bassett, premieres mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX.

—A.P. Bio NBC (mid-season, 2017-2018)

Sounds interesting: Patton Oswalt (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and others I have never heard of or seen (yet) are starring in a comedy about a “cynical Ivy League professor [who] loses out on his dream job and goes to work as a high school biology teacher where he imposes his unorthodox teaching style and uses the kids to plot out revenge on those who wronged him.” Hmmmm.

—Premier date is unclear, but Deception, ABC, sounds interesting. I don’t recognize the names or faces of any of the stars, though. PR says: “When his career is ruined by scandal, superstar magician, Cameron Black, has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, illusion, and influence — the FBI. He’ll become the world’s first consulting illusionist, helping the government solve crimes that defy explanation and trap criminals and spies by using deception.”

Sounds like a White Collar and The Mentalist mash-up. We liked both those shows, so we’ll probably give it a try.

—Another possibility: For the People, a courtroom drama scheduled some time in 2017-18 on ABC. We sometimes like these, but they can be SUPER boring if not done right. Bull, yes. Chicago Justice, no. We do recognize some of the stars, so we’ll try it.

Features Ben Rappaport (Mr. Robot, The Good Wife), Hope Davis (American Crime), Anna Deavere Smith (Nurse Jackie), Lyndon Smith (Parenthood), Ben Shenkman (Royal Pains), and some others.

Blurb: “Set in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, aka “The Mother Court,” the drama follows brand-new lawyers working for both the defense and the prosecution handling the most high-profile and high-stakes federal cases in the country — all as their lives intersect in and out of the courtroom.”

—Dylan McDermott is coming back with a workplace comedy, mid-season 2017-2018, FOX, LA TO VEGAS. We miss Pure Genius.

—Sean Hayes, Debra Messing, Eric McCormack and Megan Mulally are back for Will & Grace in fall, 2017, NBC; 8 PM on Thursdays. YEA!

—One of my long-time faves, Amy Acker, is set to star in The Gifted, another show from Marvel comics (but not with Joss Whedon at the helm) on Fox, mid-season 2017-2018, co-parenting [with Stephen Moyer (True Blood)] a troupe of mutant children. Probably too much violence and fighting, but we’ll give it a try.

Also stars some others I/we have liked: Coby Bell (Burn Notice), Sean Teale (Reign, Incorporated), Emma Dumont (Aquarius, Bunheads).

Says it’s about “a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.”

—FOX plans to air a LIVE production of the Tony-award-winning musical, RENT, some time this next year. Well-worth watching, I’m sure.

—I’m kind of bored with autistic savant characters (they’re EVERYWHERE, now, aren’t they?), but this series may be interesting, despite the trite trope. The Good Doctor premiers on ABC starring Freddie Highmore in the title role, and including a couple of familiar faces [Richard Schiff (The West Wing) and Hill Harper (Covert Affairs, CSI: NY)], so we’ll try it.

—Another great cast for a new show with a shaky premise, IMO: Reverie, on NBC, brings Sarah Shahi (Person of Interest), Dennis Haysbert (24), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes), Kathryn Morris (Cold Case) and Jessica Lu (Awkward) for an as-yet-undetermined premier date, midseason, 2017-2018.

It purports to be a “grounded and dramatic thriller about a former detective specializing in human behavior who is brought in when the launch of an advanced virtual reality program has dangerous and unintended consequences.”

—We’ll be glad to see Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) back in Instinct on CBS , if they can figure out when to start showing it.

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock (7450455h)
Alan Cumming
44th International Emmy Awards, New York, USA – 21 Nov 2016

Cumming plays “a former CIA operative who has since built a ‘normal’ life as a gifted professor and writer [who] is pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer on the loose. Based on the soon-to-be-published James Patterson book.”

—Seemingly a mash-up of Glee and Mr. Holland’s Opus, Rise brings in the drama classes for a new show we might like, on NBC. Starts mid-season, 2017-18, starring some cool peeps: Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Rosie Perez (Search Party, Lipstick Jungle), and many others pretending to be teens, I’m sure.

The show “centers on a high school drama teacher and family man whose passion for the program and his students galvanizes the entire working class town. Based on Michael Sokolove’s book, Drama High, which itself is based on real-life drama teacher, Lou Volpe.”

—Orville, on FOX, is probably going to try too hard and be terrible, but what if it’s great? HAVE to watch at least one episode, right? But, it hasn’t got a start date, yet; they plan to air on Thursdays.

It has quite a cast: Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), Adrianne Palicki (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Penny Johnson Jerald (Castle), Scott Grimes (ER), Peter Macon (Shameless), J Lee (Family Guy), Halston Sage (Crisis)

And, potentially, a great premise: “Set 300 years in the future, the hour-long dramedy follows the adventures of the Orville, a not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship, in Earth’s interstellar Fleet. Facing cosmic challenges from without and within, this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before.”

—So, one network ditches APB but another picks up a show with an almost-identical premise, stolen from Israel. Really? Just bring back APB, please? I guess not.

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CBS is airing Wisdom of the Crowd, premier date unknown, starring Jeremy Piven (Entourage, Mr. Selfridge), Monica Potter (Parenthood) and a bunch more, to run a crowd-funded/sourced version of APB:

“Inspired by the notion that a million minds are better than one, a tech innovator creates a cutting edge crowd-sourcing hub to solve his own daughter’s murder, as well as revolutionizing crime solving in San Francisco. Based on the Israeli format of the same name.”

—9JKL, coming on CBS, has a very good cast with a very stupid-sounding premise. Supposedly based on some true-life experiences of its star, Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains), his parents (played by the great Linda Lavin and Elliott Gould, and his other relatives all in one apartment building for a while. Why?

—Emily vanCamp (Revenge, Everwood) and Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife) will star in a FOX medical drama series, The Resident, planned for mid-season, 2017-2018.

—Jacqueline Bisset to star in Journey to Miyakojima, which is scheduled to begin shooting October, 2017, in Japan. “The family drama centers on ‘a quietly ailing’ family matriarch [Bisset] and NBA team owner who hopes to ‘reunite her shattered family at a serene island off the coast of Okinawa, thousands of miles away from home.’…She convinces her granddaughter, who suffers from an eating disorder that’s getting increasingly serious, to stay at a guesthouse on the island, ‘where its beauty, a chance meeting with a treasure hunter, and a century-old shipwreck heal their wounds.’”

—The X-Files reboot, which I, a faithful fan who watched every episode of the original series, thought was TERRIBLE, has just been RENEWED and plans to return mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX. Who makes these decisions?

—Gina Torres WILL star in a SUITS spin-off, because it will film in LA (where she lives) instead of the usual Toronto-for-NYC. Watch her on SUITS in the final winter, 2017, Episode (a brief return, only, for this season), then, watch for Torres to headline and produce the new series centered on her Suits character, Jessica Pearson.

—Sonia Braga to star in Las Reinas, a new ABC detective drama, probably for fall, 2017.

—Casey Wilson, Busy Philipps and Tina Fey are teaming up for The Sackett Sisters. Wilson and Philipps play sisters, with Bradley Whitford as their father, in the Fey-produced NBC comedy pilot, which may or may not get picked up for 2017-18.

—Connie Britton has already risen from the dead Rayna James (Nashville) to play a leading role in Nicole Holofcener’s upcoming Netflix ensemble dramedy, The Land of Steady Habits—based on Ted Thompson’s 2014 novel of the same name—along with Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline), and Thomas Mann (Fargo). Look for it later in 2017.

—Lauren Graham is set to star in Linda from HR, a comedy for Fox.

“The show will center on the ‘one bad decision’ that throws ‘Linda from HR’s monotonous, unfulfilled life into an exciting but dangerous tailspin of balancing work life, home life, and a secret that could unravel everything.’”

We/I liked these shows, listed below, and many were left very unfinished; but, too bad (so, reviews were not kept, below, unless show has one more season or partial season still to run):

Scandal (big shock, here!) — CANCELLED;

The Catch — CANCELLED;

Frequency— CANCELLED;

Pitch —CANCELLED;

Notorious— CANCELLED;

APB —CANCELLED;

Sun Records— CANCELLED;

Pure Genius— CANCELLED;

Reign— CANCELLED;

Bones— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Saving Hope— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Orphan Black— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Rosewood— CANCELLED/ENDED.

We didn’t like or keep watching these, anyway:

Time after Time —CANCELLED;

No Tomorrow —CANCELLED;

Shots Fired — CANCELLED;

Incorporated— CANCELLED;

Imaginary Mary— CANCELLED;

Making History— CANCELLED;

Powerless— CANCELLED;

Feed the Beast— CANCELLED;

Rogue— CANCELLED.

A few others we liked are showing as TBD for their the 2017-2018 season. I no longer have my reviews, here, if they showed up as cancelled, but stay tuned.

The networks did this awful ploy of pitting one show against another for which one gets to remain on the schedule. I suppose they’re hoping to get viewers to write/email/text/tweet about their favorites; nothing about quality, of course. Sigh.

This is the twenty-fourth post, for 4 weeks ending 5/19/17 (but updated until next post as we go along). I continue to note the updated (as of 5/18/17) TBD or RENEWED shows, below, which can be found here in its entirety (many shows we do not watch, on this site’s list): http://renewcanceltv.com/cancelled-ended-tv-shows-2016-17-season/1/

For the shows we watch, I put each one’s status beneath its review or listing, when it is known.

Also, I have been steadily removing my reviews or expectations for/of all shows that have been discontinued/cancelled since we started this series of posts in 2015.

BACKGROUND

My mom, 84, and I (62) are probably not the “target demographic” for almost any show on television or any movie being produced currently. We live in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, USA (Midwest, for those of you unfamiliar: think of that huge “Gateway Arch”? That’s here). I grew up here but then didn’t live here for 42 years; I’ve been back for about two years, now. We were both raised Jewish, but I have been a meditator since 1972 and a practicing Buddhist since 1996. We are both Caucasian women-born-women. We are considered “middle class” although we have almost zero dollars of “disposable income.” My mom is hetero; I am bisexual. We are both partly disabled. I am highly educated (doctoral degree plus other training); my mom has extensive work-experience, with a high school diploma.

My mom has been a TV watcher for over 60 years. I watched a lot as a kid, but from about 1972 – 2002, I didn’t have a TV and hardly watched it elsewhere, either. I usually didn’t have a TV between 2005 – 2014 as well, but I watched some shows online (Hulu, usually) or Netflix.

We think we should be part of a group that at least some producers are aiming to please, because we (especially Mom) now watch a lot of television. We also get movies regularly from DVD borrowing through our local library. We even occasionally go to a theatre to see a movie. We eagerly await the “new season” of television every one of the four times it seems to occur every year: “Fall Sweeps” happen, but so do Mid-season Sweeps, Mid-year New Seasons, and channels with an entirely different set of “seasons.”

We also occasionally watch TV shows and movies on Netflix!

However, we are consistently disappointed that many shows we do like are cancelled and some shows we despise seem to go on forever.

AND: “Why does none of these bakers ever wear a baker’s hat or a hairnet? Their hair is all over the food. Disgusting!” says my mom.

ALSO: “Why is it always so dark in all these shows? I can’t see a thing. What is the point?” We both say this.

Again, for the middle of May, 2017, I/we continue with this Report.

We don’t watch: most “sit-coms,” any zombies or vampires, reality shows (except one on BBC), extremely violent shows, premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Starz), most YA/”teen” shows.

Keep up with the changes! http://thefutoncritic.com/guide/

or here, for the schedule (as of May 18, 2017, for May and future months): http://renewcanceltv.com/tv-show-premiere-dates-2017-complete-guide/5/

TV + Netflix Reviews and News

Our planned evening viewing line-up for shows (updated frequently) is as follows, sort of in calendar order, BUT, those I’ve already reviewed get “bumped” to the bottom of this post.

Scroll down if you don’t see a show “on top” that you want to read my review of (because they’re so insightful!).

NOTE: Our viewing “schedule” includes a lot of recording-and-watching-later, due to simultaneous broadcasts, CARDINALS‘ BASEBALL! and my early bedtime.

**usually only Mom watches

*usually only I watch

Use http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/spring-2017-grid/ for scheduling dates/times, as of 5/18/17.

AND, get ready for summer with this link: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/summer-2017-grid/, updated as of 5/18/17

New /Returning Cable, Public & Network TV Shows

*American Epic PBS (started airing 5/16/17)

A musical history documentary, presented by T Bone Burnett, Robert Redford, Jack White. FMI: http://www.americanepic.com/

You can watch this online or locally; check your listings. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/american-epic/

This award-winning BBC documentary was broken into three episodes for PBS, each of which details a particular era or aspect of the roots of Black and midwestern/southern and Native American music, including blues, gospel, ragtime and other uniquely American styles, in video, photography, interviews, recordings, and archived stories.

I watched the first Episode, “Blood and Soil,” and it was great! Planning to watch the other two.

Fascinating, wonderful!

King Charles III PBS (Masterpiece; premiered 5/14/17)

PLEASE watch this fabulous production of a surreal/realistic and extremely controversial, brilliant, Tony-nominated play by Mike Bartlett about the British royal family. This fable-like story begins in modern times, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II (which could occur any day; she is over 90!) and continues, in Shakespearean blank verse (!?), through the aftermath for Prince/King Charles III, Prince William and Kate, and Harry as well as various fictionalized parliamentarians and ministers.

Starring the recently deceased (April, 2017) Tim Pigott-Smith, as King Charles; with Oliver Chris and Charlotte Riley as Prince William and Kate; Richard Goulding plays Prince Harry. Also features Margot Leicester as Camilla; Adam James as the fictional PM; and, the love interest for William, played by Tamara Lawrance.

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Look for it online http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/king-charles-iii/ if not on your PBS station. AND, stay tuned to watch the extra 30 minutes of “Behind the Scenes,” included after the 90-minute play, with the playwright, director and many of the key actors, all of whom are recreating their stage roles for the screen production.

FASCINATING and well worth your time

The Bletchley Circle Netflix (2 “seasons,” 3 Episodes, each)

After watching and loving the film, Hidden Figures, we found this excellent series featuring some more strong, brilliant women who were code-breakers during WW II and then solve mysteries in post-World War II London. Kind of gruesome in parts, but very well-written and -acted.

Worth your time

*American Masters on PBS: The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson, PBS (Check online: http://www.pbs.org for video replays of this and all PBS specials.)

This wonderful biographical documentary was aired quite a while ago, but I finally got around to watching it this week (mid-May). So moving, interesting, informative, yet, also, quite sad, especially given the current administration’s idiocy regarding the department she fought so hard to start, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Rachel Carson was a brilliant scientist, writer and environmentalist (one of the world’s very first) who saved countless lives by advocating for stricter long-term testing for pesticides and other chemicals that the USA’s corporations and government were so cavalierly throwing around in the 1940s – 1960s. Horribly and ironically, she died of cancer at the young age of 56, or she would have done so much more.

The Sea Around Us and Silent Spring are STILL best-selling nonfiction books. READ THEM!

Well worth your time.

LATER PREMIERS/RETURNS (not yet reviewed/watched as of 5/19/17)

*American Masters on PBS: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, PBS

(At the Tribeca Film Festival 4/23/17, then aired on PBS; check local listings or watch online, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/video/all-video/?type=episodes)

I have a particular connection to Ms. Lamarr because one of my former partner’s mothers and aunt were her friends—three young women who were beautiful, talented, Jewish Austrians and Holocaust survivors. After they all had escaped from Austria and made their way to Los Angeles during Hitler’s rise in the late 1930s, these three appeared in two movies together (my partner’s relatives had very minor roles). They were also friends with another fellow Jewish Austrian, Johnny Weismuller, known for his roles as Tarzan.

“Hedy Lamarr was the original wild child. Her scandalous nude appearance in the 1933 Czech film, Ecstasy, made her infamous at the age of 17. She married a prominent Austrian businessman who became a weapons dealer to the Nazis. Lamarr, who was born Jewish, fled her husband in the middle of the night, boarding a boat for America with nothing to her name except a single designer gown. On board, she dazzled MGM boss, Louis B. Mayer, and convinced him to offer her one of the best contracts in Hollywood. As a movie star, she was considered by many to be ‘the most beautiful woman in the world.’ Songs were written about her beauty. Snow White [Disney’s original animated version] was modeled on her iconic look. She married six times and had affairs with everyone from Howard Hughes to Spencer Tracy.”

I am especially looking forward to this one

*American Masters on PBS aired Patsy Cline – Up Close, Personal in March, but it was not available here in Missouri; check local listings or watch online: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/video/all-video/?type=episodes)

Rosanne Cash narrated this, with many stars interviewed or on clips.

What a talent! Cline‘s story is sad, but her voice! Mom may watch, but probably not.

I am looking forward to this

Dirty Dancing (film, remake) ABC (premiered 5/24/17)

Both my mom and I are HUGE fans of the original (we have seen it more than a half-dozen times, each), and we are JEWISH. So, our opinions of this remake count, HUGELY. It’s billed as “a three-hour filmed musical event” to “celebrate its 30th anniversary” with a lot of hype to live up to, which does not help its chances of succeeding.

This starts out all right, but without Patrick Swayze, we found it very sad. We kept having to decide whether or not to keep watching; it was that mediocre/bad.

Colt Prattes, who plays Johnny, has very little to none of Swayze‘s charisma, sexiness or extreme talent. MISFIRE, here. Pratton seemed to be channeling John Travolta‘s Grease character more than Johnny’s in the original film.

The female main characters were a mixed bag of seemingly overweight (Abigail Breslin as Baby, Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman, and Sarah Hyland as older sister, Lisa (were they in padding or what?) and miscast leads. While we applaud not always having anorexics as dancers, it is not credible that the awkward Breslin can become a great dancer in the given 2 weeks or fewer of the plotline.

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Best casting choices were: Nicole Scherzinger as Penny; Katey Sagal as the older “cougar” character (who can sing very well, BTW); and Shane Harper as the predatory waiter, Robbie.

Where did all the African-American resort staff characters come from? Very few were in the original, because Jewish-owned resorts didn’t hire many non-Anglo workers back then. So, why feature so many in this supposedly faithful remake and never once mention the concurrent civil rights demonstrations, which were very prominent in the summer of 1963 (the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ring any bells?)? Diversity casting only works when it fits the era. Am I wrong? For example, Billy Dee Williams as the Black/Cubano bandleader worked fine.

Similarly, why cast a very non-Jewish-vibing actor as Baby? (Breslin‘s bio lists her as having a Jewish father and being “Jewishish,” whatever that means. Breslin was also too old (over 21 as opposed to just 18, a difference which does show) to play the role, and she’s not even a strong dancer. There are plenty of Jewish actors who are age-appropriate and better dancers who could have played this iconic part.

Also featured were a very non-Jerry Orbach-ish Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Jake Houseman, with Tony Roberts, Trevor Einhorn, J. Quinton Johnson, Beau “Casper” Smart.

This reboot had some heavy-hitters behind and in it, such as: Grammy Award-nominee, Adam Anders (Glee, Rock of Ages), who also serves as executive music producer, and Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, Bring It On, In the Heights) as the choreographer. Didn’t help.

The film PR stated that it included “memorable songs from the original movie” and “additional songs from the era,” but why include remakes of songs that definitely did NOT need remaking )(“Hungry Eyes,” “She’s Like the Wind”)? Just to honor Patrick Swayze, this film should have used his and Jennifer Warnes‘ perfect version of that class-conflict-love song. The new version’s arrangement of “She’s Like the Wind” was so TERRIBLE as to almost have been unrecognizable. WHY?

And, having all the main characters sing as well as act or dance/act was interesting but completely unnecessary. The only exception was the requisite final talent show number that starred the adorable Hyland and Johnson, who did an inexplicably Hawaiian version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Thing Twice, It’s All Right,” which was excellent.

There are some important “marks” to hit in such a beloved remake, of both lines, emotions and actions, and only some of them were included at all; most were not done well, if done. The additions/changes to the storyline, on the other hand, added time and drama or left out key parts, and nothing significant was contributed to the story (e.g.: the divorce/not divorce marriage/intimacy problems of the parents: who cares?; and, the sabotage of Johnny being at the hands of the resort owner’s slimy nephew, Neil, and the desperate Sagal character rather than the deed having been done by the elderly grifters in the original).

And, if you think MY review was harsh, read this one, from Rolling Stone’s Jenna Scherer: http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/recaps/dirty-dancing-10-most-wtf-moments-from-abcs-tv-remake-w484152

Barely a C- grade. Watch if you are a fan; prepare to be disappointed

*Still Star-Crossed ABC (premiers 5/29/17)

Shonda Rhimes‘ latest offering is a “period piece,” aka, historical drama, supposedly a “sequel” to Romeo & Juliet (based on a Melinda Taub novel), about the two families’ reactions and the political intrigues that occur after R & J’s deaths.

Starring Anthony Stewart Head (yes, from Buffy!) Sterling Sulieman, Lashana Lynch, Wade Briggs, Rahimi Isabella (The Catch) and Torrance Coombs (The Reign).

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“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

“The Friday TV Report” 24 from Sally Ember, Ed.D., and her mom

I (Sally) update this ongoing mini-reviews of certain TV and Netflix shows with our opinions (begun in fall, 2015). Check on Fridays! And, introducing a new section, below, with news of upcoming TV possibilities. I also add to reviews of many previously reviewed shows with new info and opinions every time I post this almost-monthly addition, so check below “new” is you’re interested in those updates. This is Report 24 for May 19, 2017. Intermediate updates appear here, below, until the next post, probably early July, 2017.

TRUTH, RUMORS and PROBABILITIES:

—One of the most significant influences on my and many others’ lives was a science-fiction book published in the 1960s by Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, and this now “classic tale of a human raised by Martians is being adapted into a television series”! This is a “a co-production between Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions” being developed for the SyFy network.

—PSYCH is returning to the network that created it, USA, just for a “Holiday movie,” in 2017. Oooh: I hope they sing, again! So fun. I miss this show!

“…[F]eaturing fake psychic detective, Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and his best friend, Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill), the team will reunite once again… when the two-hour special premieres this December. Psych creator, Steve Franks, who co-wrote the movie with Roday, is directing. Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), Juliet (Maggie Lawson), Henry (Corbin Bernsen), and Chief Vick (Kirsten Nelson) will also return for the movie, which picks up three years after the series finale.”

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—Emergency Response drama, 9-1-1, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, starring Angela Bassett, premieres mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX.

—A.P. Bio NBC (mid-season, 2017-2018)

Sounds interesting: Patton Oswalt (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and others I have never heard of or seen (yet) are starring in a comedy about a “cynical Ivy League professor [who] loses out on his dream job and goes to work as a high school biology teacher where he imposes his unorthodox teaching style and uses the kids to plot out revenge on those who wronged him.” Hmmmm.

—Premier date is unclear, but Deception, ABC, sounds interesting. I don’t recognize the names or faces of any of the stars, though. PR says: “When his career is ruined by scandal, superstar magician, Cameron Black, has only one place to turn to practice his art of deception, illusion, and influence — the FBI. He’ll become the world’s first consulting illusionist, helping the government solve crimes that defy explanation and trap criminals and spies by using deception.”

Sounds like a White Collar and The Mentalist mash-up. We liked both those shows, so we’ll probably give it a try.

—Another possibility: For the People, a courtroom drama scheduled some time in 2017-18 on ABC. We sometimes like these, but they can be SUPER boring if not done right. Bull, yes. Chicago Justice, no. We do recognize some of the stars, so we’ll try it. Features Ben Rappaport (Mr. Robot, The Good Wife), Hope Davis (American Crime), Anna Deavere Smith (Nurse Jackie), Lyndon Smith (Parenthood), Ben Shenkman (Royal Pains), and some others.

Blurb: “Set in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, aka “The Mother Court,” the drama follows brand-new lawyers working for both the defense and the prosecution handling the most high-profile and high-stakes federal cases in the country — all as their lives intersect in and out of the courtroom.”

—Dylan McDermott is coming back with a workplace comedy, mid-season 2017-2018, FOX, LA TO VEGAS.

—Sean Hayes, Debra Messing, Eric McCormack and Megan Mulally are back for Will & Grace in fall, 2017, NBC; 8 PM on Thursdays. YEA!

—One of my long-time faves, Amy Acker, is set to star in The Gifted, another show from Marvel comics (but not with Joss Whedon at the helm) on Fox in 2017. Probably too much violence and fighting, but we’ll give it a try.

Also stars some others I/we have liked: Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Coby Bell (Burn Notice), Sean Teale (Reign, Incorporated), Emma Dumont (Aquarius, Bunheads).

Says it’s about “a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.”

—FOX plans to air a LIVE production of the Tony-award-winning musical, RENT, some time this next year. Well worth watching, I’m sure.

—I’m kind of bored with autistic savant characters (they’re EVERYWHERE, now, aren’t they?), but this series may be interesting, despite the trite trope. The Good Doctor premiers on ABC starring Freddie Highmore in the title role, and including a couple of familiar faces [Richard Schiff (The West Wing) and Hill Harper (Covert Affairs, CSI: NY)], so we’ll try it. Premier date, unknown.

—Another great cast for a new show with a shaky premise, IMO: Reverie, on NBC, brings Sarah Shahi (Person of Interest), Dennis Haysbert (24), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes), Kathryn Morris (Cold Case) and Jessica Lu (Awkward) for an as-yet-undetermined premier date, midseason, 2017-2018.

It purports to be a “grounded and dramatic thriller about a former detective specializing in human behavior who is brought in when the launch of an advanced virtual reality program has dangerous and unintended consequences.”

—We’ll be glad to see Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) back in Instinct on CBS , if they can figure out when to start showing it.

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock (7450455h)
Alan Cumming
44th International Emmy Awards, New York, USA – 21 Nov 2016

He plays “a former CIA operative who has since built a ‘normal’ life as a gifted professor and writer [who] is pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer on the loose. Based on the soon-to-be-published James Patterson book.”

—A mash-up of Glee and Mr. Holland’s Opus brings in the drama classes for a new show we might like: Rise, on NBC, which starts sometime mid-season, 2017-18, starring some cool peeps: Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Rosie Perez (Search Party, Lipstick Jungle), and many others pretending to be teens, I’m sure.

The show “centers on a high school drama teacher and family man whose passion for the program and his students galvanizes the entire working class town. Based on Michael Sokolove’s book Drama High, which itself is based on real-life drama teacher, Lou Volpe.”

—Orville, on FOX, is probably going to try too hard and be terrible, but what if it’s great? HAVE to watch at least one episode, right? But, it hasn’t got a start date, yet; they plan to air on Thursdays.

It has quite a cast: Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), Adrianne Palicki (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Penny Johnson Jerald (Castle), Scott Grimes (ER), Peter Macon (Shameless), J Lee (Family Guy), Halston Sage (Crisis)

And, potentially, a great premise: “Set 300 years in the future, the hour-long dramedy follows the adventures of the Orville, a not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship, in Earth’s interstellar Fleet. Facing cosmic challenges from without and within, this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before.”

—So, one network ditches APB but another picks up a show with an almost-identical premise, stolen from Israel. Really? Just bring back APB, please? I guess not. CBS is bringing Wisdom of the Crowd, date unknown, starring Jeremy Piven (Entourage, Mr. Selfridge), Monica Potter (Parenthood) and a bunch more, to run a crowd-funded/sourced version of APB:

“Inspired by the notion that a million minds are better than one, a tech innovator creates a cutting edge crowd-sourcing hub to solve his own daughter’s murder, as well as revolutionizing crime solving in San Francisco. Based on the Israeli format of the same name.”

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—9JKL, coming on CBS, has a very good cast with a very stupid-sounding premise. Supposedly based on some true-life experiences of its star, Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains), his parents (played by the great Linda Lavin and Elliott Gould, and his other relatives all in one apartment building for a while. Why?

—Emily vanCamp (Revenge, Everwood) and Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife) will star in a FOX medical drama series, The Resident, planned for mid-season, 2017-2018.

—Jacqueline Bisset to star in Journey to Miyakojima, which is scheduled to begin shooting October, 2017, in Japan. “The family drama centers on ‘a quietly ailing’ family matriarch [Bisset] and NBA team owner who hopes to ‘reunite her shattered family at a serene island off the coast of Okinawa, thousands of miles away from home.’…She convinces her granddaughter, who suffers from an eating disorder that’s getting increasingly serious, to stay at a guesthouse on the island, ‘where its beauty, a chance meeting with a treasure hunter, and a century-old shipwreck heal their wounds.’”

—The X-Files reboot, which I, a faithful fan who watched every episode of the original series, thought was TERRIBLE, has just been RENEWED and plans to return mid-season, 2017-2018, on FOX. Who makes these decisions?

—Gina Torres WILL star in a SUITS spin-off, because it will film in LA (where she lives) instead of the usual Toronto-for-NYC. Watch her on SUITS in the final winter, 2017, Episode (a brief return, only, for this season), then, watch for Torres to headline and produce the new series centered on her Suits character, Jessica Pearson.

—Sonia Braga to star in Las Reinas, a new ABC detective drama, probably for fall, 2017.

—Casey Wilson, Busy Philipps and Tina Fey are teaming up for The Sackett Sisters. Wilson and Philipps play sisters, with Bradley Whitford as their father, in the Fey-produced NBC comedy pilot, which may or may not get picked up for 2017-18.

—Connie Britton has already risen from the dead Rayna James (Nashville) to play a leading role in Nicole Holofcener’s upcoming Netflix ensemble dramedy, The Land of Steady Habits—based on Ted Thompson’s 2014 novel of the same name—along with Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline), and Thomas Mann (Fargo). Look for it later in 2017.

—Lauren Graham is set to star in Linda from HR, a comedy for Fox.

“The show will center on the ‘one bad decision’ that throws ‘Linda from HR’s monotonous, unfulfilled life into an exciting but dangerous tailspin of balancing work life, home life, and a secret that could unravel everything.’”

We/I liked these shows, listed below, and many were left very unfinished; but, too bad (so, reviews were not kept, below, unless show has one more season or partial season still to run):

Scandal (big shock, here!) — CANCELLED;

The Catch — CANCELLED;

Frequency— CANCELLED;

Pitch —CANCELLED;

Notorious— CANCELLED;

APB —CANCELLED;

Sun Records— CANCELLED;

Pure Genius— CANCELLED;

Reign— CANCELLED;

Bones— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Saving Hope— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Orphan Black— CANCELLED/ENDED;

Rosewood— CANCELLED/ENDED.

We didn’t like or keep watching these, anyway:

Time after Time —CANCELLED;

No Tomorrow —CANCELLED;

Shots Fired — CANCELLED;

Incorporated— CANCELLED;

Making History— CANCELLED;

Powerless— CANCELLED;

Feed the Beast— CANCELLED;

Rogue— CANCELLED.

A few others we liked are showing as TBD for their the 2017-2018 season. I no longer have my reviews, here, if they showed up as cancelled, but stay tuned.

The networks did this awful ploy of pitting one show against another for which one gets to remain on the schedule. I suppose they’re hoping to get viewers to write/email/text/tweet about their favorites; nothing about quality, of course. Sigh.

This is the twenty-fourth post, for 4 weeks ending 5/19/17 (but updated until next post as we go along). I continue to note the updated (as of 5/18/17) TBD or RENEWED shows, below, which can be found here in its entirety (many shows we do not watch, on this site’s list): http://renewcanceltv.com/cancelled-ended-tv-shows-2016-17-season/1/

For the shows we watch, I put each one’s status beneath its review or listing, when it is known.

Also, I have been steadily removing my reviews or expectations for/of all shows that have been discontinued/cancelled since we started this series of posts in 2015.

BACKGROUND

My mom, 84, and I (62) are probably not the “target demographic” for almost any show on television or any movie being produced currently. We live in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, USA (Midwest, for those of you unfamiliar: think of that huge “Gateway Arch”? That’s here). I grew up here but then didn’t live here for 42 years; I’ve been back for about two years, now. We were both raised Jewish, but I have been a meditator since 1972 and a practicing Buddhist since 1996. We are both Caucasian women-born-women. We are considered “middle class” although we have almost zero dollars of “disposable income.” My mom is hetero; I am bisexual. We are both partly disabled. I am highly educated (doctoral degree plus other training); my mom has extensive work-experience, with a high school diploma.

My mom has been a TV watcher for over 60 years. I watched a lot as a kid, but from about 1972 – 2002, I didn’t have a TV and hardly watched it elsewhere, either. I usually didn’t have a TV between 2005 – 2014 as well, but I watched some shows online (Hulu, usually) or Netflix.

We think we should be part of a group that at least some producers are aiming to please, because we (especially Mom) now watch a lot of television. We also get movies regularly from DVD borrowing through our local library. We even occasionally go to a theatre to see a movie. We eagerly await the “new season” of television every one of the four times it seems to occur every year: “Fall Sweeps” happen, but so do Mid-season Sweeps, Mid-year New Seasons, and channels with an entirely different set of “seasons.”

We also occasionally watch TV shows and movies on Netflix!

However, we are consistently disappointed that many shows we do like are cancelled and some shows we despise seem to go on forever.

AND: “Why does none of these bakers ever wear a baker’s hat or a hairnet? Their hair is all over the food. Disgusting!” says my mom.

ALSO: “Why is it always so dark in all these shows? I can’t see a thing. What is the point?” We both say this.

Again, for the middle of May, 2017, I/we continue with this Report.

We don’t watch: most “sit-coms,” any zombies or vampires, reality shows (except one on BBC), extremely violent shows, premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Starz), most YA/”teen” shows.

Keep up with the changes! http://thefutoncritic.com/guide/

or here, for the schedule (as of May 18, 2017, for May and future months): http://renewcanceltv.com/tv-show-premiere-dates-2017-complete-guide/5/

TV + Netflix Reviews and News

Our planned evening viewing line-up for shows (updated frequently) is as follows, sort of in calendar order, BUT, those I’ve already reviewed get “bumped” to the bottom of this post.

Scroll down if you don’t see a show “on top” that you want to read my review of (because they’re so insightful!).

NOTE: Our viewing “schedule” includes a lot of recording-and-watching-later, due to simultaneous broadcasts, CARDINALS‘ BASEBALL! and my early bedtime.

**usually only Mom watches

*usually only I watch

New /Returning Cable, Public & Network TV Shows

Use http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/spring-2017-grid/ for scheduling dates/times, as of 5/18/17.

AND, get ready for summer with this link: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/guide/summer-2017-grid/, updated as of 5/18/17

King Charles III PBS (Masterpiece; premiered 5/14/17)

PLEASE watch this fabulous production of a surreal/realistic and extremely controversial, brilliant, Tony-nominated play by Mike Bartlett about the British royal family. This fable-like story begins in modern times, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II (which could occur any day; she is over 90!) and continues, in Shakespearean blank verse (!?), through the aftermath for Prince/King Charles III, Prince William and Kate, and Harry as well as various fictionalized parliamentarians and ministers.

Starring the recently deceased (April, 2017) Tim Pigott-Smith, as King Charles; with Oliver Chris and Charlotte Riley as Prince William and Kate; Richard Goulding plays Prince Harry. Also features Margot Leicester as Camilla; Adam James as the fictional PM; and, the love interest for William, played by Tamara Lawrance.

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Look for it online http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/king-charles-iii/ if not on your PBS station. AND, stay tuned to watch the extra 30 minutes of “Behind the Scenes,” included after the 90-minute play, with the playwright, director and many of the key actors, all of whom are recreating their stage roles for the screen production.

FASCINATING and well worth your time

The Bletchley Circle Netflix (2 “seasons,” 3 Episodes, each)

After watching and loving the film, Hidden Figures, we found this excellent series featuring some more strong, brilliant women who were code-breakers during WW II and then solve mysteries in post-World War II London. Kind of gruesome in parts, but very well-written and -acted.

Worth your time

LATER PREMIERS/RETURNS (not yet reviewed/watched as of 5/19/17)

*American Masters on PBS: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, PBS

(At the Tribeca Film Festival 4/23/17, then aired on PBS; check local listings or watch online, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/video/all-video/?type=episodes)

I have a particular connection to Ms. Lamarr because one of my former partner’s mothers and aunt were her friends—three young women who were beautiful, talented, Jewish Austrians and Holocaust survivors. After they all had escaped from Austria and made their way to Los Angeles during Hitler’s rise in the late 1930s, these three appeared in two movies together (my partner’s relatives had very minor roles). They were also friends with another fellow Jewish Austrian, Johnny Weismuller, known for his roles as Tarzan.

“Hedy Lamarr was the original wild child. Her scandalous nude appearance in the 1933 Czech film, Ecstasy, made her infamous at the age of 17. She married a prominent Austrian businessman who became a weapons dealer to the Nazis. Lamarr, who was born Jewish, fled her husband in the middle of the night, boarding a boat for America with nothing to her name except a single designer gown. On board, she dazzled MGM boss, Louis B. Mayer, and convinced him to offer her one of the best contracts in Hollywood. As a movie star, she was considered by many to be ‘the most beautiful woman in the world.’ Songs were written about her beauty. Snow White [Disney’s original animated version] was modeled on her iconic look. She married six times and had affairs with everyone from Howard Hughes to Spencer Tracy.”

I am especially looking forward to this one

*American Masters on PBS aired Patsy Cline – Up Close, Personal in March, but it was not available here in Missouri; check local listings or watch online: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/video/all-video/?type=episodes)

Rosanne Cash narrated this, with many stars interviewed or on clips.

What a talent! Cline‘s story is sad, but her voice! Mom may watch, but probably not.

I am looking forward to this

Dirty Dancing (film, remake) ABC (premiers 5/24/17)

This could be good, but without Patrick Swayze, also, sad. It’s billed as “a three-hour filmed musical event” to “celebrate its 30th anniversary.”

It has some heavy-hitters behind and in it, such as: Grammy Award-nominee, Adam Anders (Glee, Rock of Ages), who also serves as executive music producer, and Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, Bring It On, In the Heights) as the choreographer. The film includes “memorable songs from the original movie” and “additional songs from the era.”

Starring Abigail Breslin as Baby, Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman, Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Jake Houseman, Nicole Scherzinger as Penny, Colt Prattes as Johnny, Sarah Hyland as Lisa Houseman, and features Tony Roberts, Trevor Einhorn, Shane Harper, J. Quinton Johnson, Beau “Casper” Smart, Katey Sagal and Billy Dee Williams.

Must see.

Still Star-Crossed ABC (premiers 5/29/17)

Shonda Rhimes‘ latest offering is a “period piece,” aka, historical drama, supposedly a “sequel” to Romeo & Juliet (based on a Melinda Taub novel), about the two families’ reactions and the political intrigues that occur after R & J’s deaths.

Starring Sterling Sulieman, Lashana Lynch, Wade Briggs and Torrance Coombs.

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Week TWO Info for “The Author’s Adventure Summit 2017,” run by Lisa DeSpain

“The Author’s Adventure Summit 2017” is hosted by:

Lisa DeSpain, “The Successful Author’s Book Coach” (her own eponym), who can be reached at: lisa@book2bestseller.com, and who can be found (and more info, also) at: http://book2bestseller.com

[I am not endorsing, recommending, or benefitting, myself. I have attended worthwhile webinars/workshops online led by a few of these presenters. Sharing, therefore.]

Lisa sent this note and schedule, below, to those of us who subscribe to her newsletter and who signed up to be notified of this coming week’s events in the The Author’s Adventure Summit 2017 (which runs May 8 – 19, 2017).

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Sign up here: http://www.book2bestseller.com/authors-adventure-summit/ to get on the list, access the free events, or decide to pay and access more (I am not paying).

Hi – just a quick note to let you know what’s happening this upcoming week. I’ll be sending a daily schedule with links so you can easily click through to the summit interviews for the day. Here’s an overview of the week:

WEEK TWO SCHEDULE

Monday, May 15

Derek Murphy, “Fantastic Fiction Promotional Strategies” http://book2bestseller.com/derek-murphy

Jill Celeste, “The Director of Marketing for Your Book Business” http://book2bestseller.com/jill-celeste

Elena Rahrig, “Traditional Publisher or Self-Publisher?” http://book2bestseller.com/elena-rahrig

Tuesday, May 16

Eric Van Der Hope, “Finding Your Tribe & Building Your Platform” http://book2bestseller.com/eric-van-der-hope

Lori Hardegree, “Facebook Secrets for Authors (The Red Hot Edition)” http://book2bestseller.com/lori-hardegree

Penny Sansevieri, “Offline and Online Marketing Strategies” http://book2bestseller.com/penny-sansevieri

Wednesday, May 17

Shari Stauch, “Fun Ways to Build Your Author Platform” http://book2bestseller.com/shari-stauch

Kiki Chatfield, “New Publicity Methods You’ve Never Heard Of” http://book2bestseller.com/kiki-chatfield

Kimberley Grabas, “6 Essential Elements of a Flawless Book Launch” http://book2bestseller.com/kimberley-grabas

Thursday, May 18

Sharon Hamilton, “Becoming a Bestselling Author” http://book2bestseller.com/sharon-hamilton

Alinka Rutkowska, “Why 72% of Self-Published Authors Never Sell

More Than 1,000 Books” http://book2bestseller.com/alinka-rutkowska

Jen Levitz, “5 Keys to Writing a Lead Generating Business Book” http://book2bestseller.com/jen-levitz

Friday, May 19

Judith Briles, “The Book Shepherd” http://book2bestseller.com/judith-briles

Lisa DeSpain, “Summit Wrap-Up” http://book2bestseller.com/lisa-interview

WEEK ONE SCHEDULE (may need to pay to view older shows…)

Monday, May 8

Randy Peyser, “How to Get a Book Deal with a Publisher” http://book2bestseller.com/randy-peyser

Tamara Monosoff, “Adding Interactivity and Working with Affiliates” http://book2bestseller.com/tamara-monosoff

Tenita Johnson, “Beyond the Bestseller List” http://book2bestseller.com/tenita-johnson

Tuesday, May 9

Valerie Gangas, “Going Pro on the Path to Enlightenment” http://book2bestseller.com/valerie-gangas

Laila Ali, “From Traditional to Self-Published” http://book2bestseller.com/laila-ali

Rocky Callen, “Learning How to Bleed Ink” http://book2bestseller.com/rocky-callen

Wednesday, May 10

Amanda Young, “Finding Clarity as You Write Your Book” http://book2bestseller.com/amanda-young

Ellie McLove, “Editing: When to Change it or Leave it for Style” http://book2bestseller.com/ellie-mclove

Nina Amir, “Inspiration to Creation” http://book2bestseller.com/nina-amir

Thursday, May 11

Tamara Dever, “The Selling Power of Book Design” http://book2bestseller.com/tamara-dever

Joel Friedlander, “Secret Ways that Authors Really Make Money” http://book2bestseller.com/joel-friedlander

Robin Cutler, “Getting Ingram Distribution through IngramSpark” http://book2bestseller.com/robin-cutler

Friday, May 12

Steven Spatz, “Distribution + Service = A Winning Combination” http://book2bestseller.com/steven-spatz

Kristin Steele & Dan Verdick,”The Top 4 Things You Need to Know About Book

Marketing” http://book2bestseller.com/kristin-and-dan

The Presenters for both weeks of The Author’s Adventure Summit 2017

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Lisa ended her email with a few cute lines, then this info:

P.S. If you think you’re going to have trouble watching the interviews on their live dates, you might want to get a VIP access pass (if you haven’t already). Here’s the link to become a VIP: http://www.book2bestseller.com/masterclass-vip/

Filed under: Indie or Self-Publishing, Marketing, Writing Tagged: Author's Adventure Summit 2017, authors, book marketing, indie authors, Lisa DeSpain, marketing, self-publishing, Writers