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Doux News: April 12, 2015

This week: Nina Dobrev leaves The Vampire Diaries -- David Lynch leaves Twin Peaks -- Miscellaneous entertainment news -- This week in casts -- This week in Cats Muppets

So Nina Dobrev is leaving The Vampire Diaries! Even though I am having a difficult time imagining the show without its female lead, I also have to say it's not that big a surprise, given the rumors that she and co-star/former honey Ian Somerhalder now hate each other. Could it possibly have been an either/or situation for the producers, as in one of them had to go?

When consulted for comment, our Vampire Diaries reviewer Josie Kafka says that she foresees the show ending next year.

The Twin Peaks revival isn't going well, either. Showtime and David Lynch have had a difference of opinion about money and have parted ways. It's all a bit confusing, but it appears that Lynch and Mark Frost have already written the scripts, and it is just Lynch's participation as a director that won't be happening. Original cast members are weighing in and they don't sound happy. I'm sure we'll hear more soon.

Miscellaneous TV news and trailers

-- ABC is working quietly on an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff. I like AoS and it's doing better this season than last, but it's not a monster hit. Doesn't a show have to be doing really well to get a spinoff? Is this Marvel-universe-related, perhaps?

-- Arrested Development's fifth season is apparently in the works, and will consist of 17 episodes. Netflix wasn't mentioned but it's likely that's where it will air.

-- Steven Moffat says the BBC is planning to keep Doctor Who around at least through 2020. That sounds so far away but it's just five years.

-- Fox is planning a TV movie remake of Rocky Horror Picture Show. There are so very, very many reasons why this is a bad idea, but I will mention only one: lightning never strikes twice in the same place.

-- Netflix has reunited Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, who costarred many years ago in one of my son's favorite movies, 9 to 5, in Grace and Frankie, a story of two women whose husbands (played by Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) leave them to marry each other. The thirteen episode series drops on May 8. I might have to catch this one. I mean, just look at the cast.

-- True Detective's second season begins June 21.




-- Orange is the New Black's third season begins June 12.




This week in casts

-- John Noble (Fringe, Sleepy Hollow) will be guesting on the Forever finale. Will it be a season finale or a series finale? No definitive word as yet.

-- Jimmy Jean-Louis will return as the Haitian on Heroes Reborn.

-- Zachary Levi will be playing Abraham Lincoln in season 2 of Hulu's Deadbeat.

-- Eliza Dushku (Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse) will play a recurring character, an FBI profiler, on the fourth season of Banshee. I don't have Cinemax and haven't seen Banshee. Is it good?

-- Taraji P. Henson will be returning for a flashback episode of Person of Interest.

-- Lots of casting news for Hulu's nine-hour miniseries adaptation of the Stephen King novel, 11/22/63. James Franco, who will be playing the lead, will be joined by Daniel Webber (Lee Harvey Oswald), plus Cherry Jones, Lucy Fry, Chris Cooper, Leon Rippy, Sarah Gadon and George MacKay.

This week in Cats Muppets

In honor of tonight's return of Game of Thrones, I give you... Game of Chairs. With a warning that since it's a parody, you could be spoiled by some Game of Thrones plot points from earlier seasons.



---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

16 comments:

  1. Remake Rocky Horror? But why?
    Nina leaving VD might make things difficult, but I haven't followed it for ages. Perhaps Caroline can take over?

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  2. mazephoenix, I think Caroline pretty much *has* taken over. :) It still feels weird to have TVD without Elena, though.

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  3. TVD drama off set reminds us all that there should be a rule in TV shows. "Never get too close or involved with someone on set, it only ends badly".

    Banshee! I love Banshee! It's one of the best shows out there. It's a bit violent, yes, but the acting, characters, the story is just brilliant.

    And speaking of brilliant. Marvel's Daredevil that premiered this weekend is just fabtastic. I marathoned through the whole Season 1, and I am just speechless. Surely this show will be reviewed here??:)

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  4. Oh, and I am looking forward to see Eliza Dushku on Banshee of course. But she better bring her Faith-like kickass moves...she will probably need them.

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  5. TJ -- yes, our Mark Greig will be covering Daredevil and it should start going up pretty soon. Thanks so much for the info on Banshee. Too much TV, too little time!

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  6. Loved the Game of Chairs! Very fun. Thanks for that.

    So, what's the plan for the Daredevil reviews? One episode at a time spread over a few weeks, or a whole bunch at once? Or just a full season review? The hubby and I just started watching last night and are planning to spread out our viewing (no more than one or two a week, we want to savor it!), so I was curious how to expect the discussion to spool out here. I want to make sure I approach the comments feed more carefully if reviews are going to be popping up more quickly than we are viewing the episodes!

    On the same subject, what's your plan for Orange is the New Black? I'm thinking I might slow down my viewing for Season 3, so I can keep better pace with the reviews and discussion.

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  7. Re: Daredevil -- the current plan is to do individual reviews of all of the episodes, but if he wants to do it differently, it's totally up to Mark.

    I was pretty much planning to do the same thing with Orange is the New Black, hopefully posting them much more quickly than last summer when I was stretched too thin. Although I've considered just doing a nice long seasonal review. What do you guys think?

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  8. It's a tough call. I'm realizing I enjoy episode-by-episode discussion stretched out over a longer period of time (week-to-week, or just a couple episodes a week, with time for contemplation between episodes), but with not everyone watching at the same pace, that kind of discussion becomes difficult. It may make more sense to do a full season post, to foster discussion after everyone has seen everything. But a lot of smaller moments tend to get lost along the way with that kind of approach.

    Aargh, Netflix! I love the great content, and I certainly enjoy a good binge once in awhile, but I mourn the demise of the weekly "watercooler" discussion. :(

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  9. Hey everyone. Right now my plan for Daredevil is to post a new review every Monday, perhaps sooner depending on how quickly I get them written.

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  10. Surprised on Nina Dobrev leaving The Vampire Diaries. How can a show continue without its main character?

    On the AoS spinoff, I don’t think the series has enough juice of its own to land another series. But who knows?

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  11. Re: The Vampire Diaries, unless there's some unexpected creative revelation I expect next season to be the last one now that Nina Dobrev is leaving. That being said, seven seasons is nothing to be ashamed of.

    I'm still torn on the Amazon/Netflix model of releasing all 13 or whatever episodes of their show's new "season" at once. On the one hand, it does mean I was able to watch all of Daredevil this weekend(and yes it was awesome, not perfect but awesome). When you aren't trying to sell ad revenue during live broadcasts, you can just get the material out there and let people watch on their own schedule. But I do think there are disadvantages. One is a lack of viewer feedback to early episodes before later episodes get finished. That's less of an issue with 13-episode runs than it is with regular network shows that run from September to May, though. Another is the "watercooler discussion" that Jess mentioned. Yes, people will be talking about Daredevil in my office on Monday. But not everyone will want to sit down and watch all 13 episodes in a compressed period of time, or even be able to. And because others will have the chance to see all 13 before they get to see even the first couple, the risk of spoilers will be that much higher. Spacing out the episodes, while it can be frustrating in some ways, does help give everyone a chance to stay caught up with each other, or at least not TOO far behind. I don't think there's any one "best" way to distribute content, there's pros and cons to all of them.

    As to the Agents Of SHIELD spinoff, unless this is a very specific piece of the grand MCU plan, I think it's a very bad idea. I love what AoS has been doing this year(even though I want to slap these "real SHIELD" guys silly), but I'm not sure there's enough room for a 2nd show. I'd rather see the MCU team devote their spare energy towards continuing the adventures of Agent Carter. I think the limited-run format works well for that show, giving us specific stories almost like old-time serial adventures. "Agent Carter and the Temple Of Doom!" etc :)

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  12. Nina's leaving? Jeez, there go half the characters on the show. Maybe an evil twin (nice twin?) of Caroline will show up next. Gotta make those actresses work for their paychecks!

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  13. Banshee stars lovely Kiwi boy Antony Starr, and I hear it's good, but personally I can't watch it. I tried the first episode and the violence was the sickening sort I just can't stomach.

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  14. Banshee is amazing. It's the best filmed show on TV right now from a technical standpoint, and one of my personal favorite shows now. It does have a very heightened level of violence that you have to be able to stomach to watch it (I just look away if I have to), but it also has wonderful, unique characters who face both physical and emotional consequences for their choices/actions that unfurl in captivating ways. For example, the town's crime boss is a former born and raised Amish man.

    The action scenes are cinematic (and put a lot of movies to shame actually), and just when I think they can't outdo themselves, they come up with something fresh, like an entire vault heist filmed using only helmet cams and surveillance cams.

    I highly recommend Banshee, which has far surpassed it's at-a-glance appearance of being some brainless action and boobs show that Cinemax put out on a lark. Eliza Dushku will fit right in with all their strong female characters. Great casting choice.

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  15. Thanks, Billie. Lots of interesting and thought-provoking news! I'll weigh in on the True Detective S2 promo -- I loved it and I'm pleasantly surprised how excited I now am for the next season. It looks as gritty and brooding as I believe LA can and does kind of give off a 'Chinatown' vibe which is gutsy yet appropriate, imo. Tangentially, I've always had a soft spot for Colin Farrell. :)

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  16. I've never been able to separate Colin Farrell from the fact his big break was Ballykissangel, but I do quite like watching him, so maybe I should give True Detective s2 a go, though I'm still dubious...

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