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Status update #8 on your favorite new and returning shows

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May is fast approaching, the month when the majority of network TV series reach their season finales, some with cliffhangers galore. We’re still waiting on many network executives to make final decisions on the fate of their shows, and today I’m back with the latest report concerning your favorite ones. Without further ado…

CBS, in typical fashion, is bringing back the majority of its programming next fall. In one fell swoop, The Eye renewed 11 series: dramas Blue Bloods, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Hawaii Five-0, Madam Secretary, Elementary, and Scorpion, comedies Mom and 2 Broke Girls, and reality shows Survivor and The Amazing Race. Elsewhere, the time has come to say goodbye to Person of Interest. The addicting crime procedural/serial hybrid from executive producers J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Nolan, and Greg Plageman debuts its fifth and final season on Tuesday, May 3. The EPs released a joint statement for fans, and you can read it after the break.

FOX, meanwhile, is placing lots of confidence in striving drama Gotham and reliably funny comedies Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Last Man on Earth. The DC Comics-based series will return for a third season, and the Andy Samberg and Will Forte sitcoms have secured a fourth and third season, respectively.

ABC swiftly removed biblical drama Of Kings and Prophets from its primetime schedule after two wildly low-rated airings. The end.

FXX is primed to make history with a two-season pickup of veteran sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Seasons 13 and 14 are currently in the works, and if FX’s sister network eventually greenlights a record-breaking 15th season, it will make It’s Always Sunny the longest-running live-action comedy series of all-time.

AMC, in the least surprising move, has announced that it wants more Better Call Saul. The Breaking Bad spinoff is officially coming back for a 10-episode third season in 2017. Elsewhere on the cable network, martial arts drama Into the Badlands secured a second season.

One dislikes ending on a sour note, but here goes: HBO has opted not to bring back Togetherness for a third season. Its second season, which currently has two episodes remaining, will be its last. The underrated drama from filmmaking brothers Jay and Mark Duplass puts marriage and friendship under a microscope and explores adult relationships with strong sense of finesse and intimate emotion. This one will be missed. Continue reading Status update #8 on your favorite new and returning shows →

Coldplay announces seventh studio album ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ & releases lead single–listen here

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Coldplay has emerged from the studio with a major announcement. Their seventh album, A Head Full of Dreams, drops December 4. Not only that, the ubiquitous British band has released the lead single, “Adventure of a Lifetime,” and it previews the fun-loving, positive ball of energy nature that frontman Chris Martin promises the album will deliver. “We just wanted to make this big, colorful, joyful thing called A Head Full of Dreams,” he told SiriusXM this week. You can listen to new track after the break, and stream it on Spotify and download it on iTunes.

A Head Full Of Dreams consists of 11 tracks (12 if you include the hidden track “X Marks the Spot”) and it will feature a handful of special guests including Beyoncé, Noel Gallagher (of Oasis), Tove Lo, and Merry Clayton. Norwegian duo Stargate and frequent Coldplay collaborator Rik Simpson helped produce the new album which was recorded on both sides of the pond in Malibu and London. Though the band didn’t tour their last release, Ghost Stories, Martin and company promise an exciting world tour is in the works for this latest release.

For Coldplay fans, album #7 may be the last collection of new material from the band for awhile. Last year, Martin let slip to then-BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe that A Head Full of Dreams may very well be Coldplay’s final hurrah. “It’s our seventh thing, and the way we look at it, it’s like the last Harry Potter book or something like that,” he said. “Not to say that there might not be another thing one day, but this is the completion of something.” Sounds to me like they might take an extended hiatus between 7 and 8, rather than dismantling the band for good. Especially if you listen to Martin’s more recent radio interview, it’s apparent that all the bandmates are in a good place and are very grateful for having lasted this long together. I’d be shocked if this was the end, that’s all I’m saying.

Regardless! Play the new single below the fold and preorder the album today. Come Dec. 4, we’ll all have fresh ethereal, feel-good music from the ever-evolving Coldplay. Eye the album artwork and track list below the fold. Continue reading Coldplay announces seventh studio album ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ & releases lead single–listen here →

BB-8 by Sphero is the droid you’re looking for

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We’re a mere three months out from stepping into a new chapter in the Star Wars universe. In an effort to ramp up anticipation of The Force Awakens (as if everything else hasn’t already), Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm have branded today “Force Friday,” a day to celebrate all things Star Wars with officially licensed products including toys, collectibles, gadgets, you name it. Retailers nationwide are selling brand new Star Wars stuff, and perhaps the most coveted of them all is the app-enabled droid BB-8 from Sphero.

Sphero, the company behind app-controlled spherical robots, was chosen by Disney and Lucasfilm to imagine and produce an interactive iteration of everyone’s favorite Astromech Droid, BB-8. Though little is known about this cute little droid who’s set to make his debut in The Force Awakens, Star Wars fans worldwide immediately embraced BB-8 following its impressive stage presence at this summer’s Star Wars Celebration. BB-8 is director J.J. Abrams’ shining example of how he’s following in George Lucas’ early footsteps using practical effects above CGI ones where possible. BB-8 looks like a giant soccer ball with an R2D2-like head magically balancing on atop its body. The droid stunned the crowd at Celebration, and now, thanks to Sphero’s handiwork, you can call BB-8 your own.

The BB-8 toy is significantly smaller than its movie character counterpart, fitting in the palm of your hand. Pair it with your phone via Bluetooth and you’re in control of its movements. A free companion app on iOS and Android allows you to guide it around, a patrol mode makes it roam around your space autonomously, and a message mode lets you create, send, and share holographic videos (the droid does not actually beam out holograms, mind you; you’ll see the augmented reality images displayed on your phone or tablet). Gyroscopic propulsion and magnets make the magic happen. Be careful, though; BB-8’s head will fly off if you slam it into a wall hard enough or accidentally drop it from an elevated surface. Battery life is listed at an hour, and it comes bundled with an inductive charging cradle. The coolest bit? Sphero says its BB-8 has an “adaptive personality that changes as you play.” Its got a range of expressions and sounds, and it’ll perk up when you give voice commands.

Simply put, this is the droid you’re looking for. See BB-8 in action after the break.

What will all this tech cost you? Sphero’s newest robotic toy is a pricey $149.99, and it’s available today. Good luck tracking one down, though. BB-8 is the new Tickle-Me-Elmo, if you know what I mean. Sphero sells it on its website, and major retailers carry it, too.

Happy Force Friday!

[Via Sphero 1, 2] Continue reading BB-8 by Sphero is the droid you’re looking for →

Taylor Swift cleans up at the 2015 MTV VMAs, presents Video Vanguard Award to Kanye West

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The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards was all about squashing beefs, for the most part. The award show opened with a performance by Nicki Minaj who was later joined by Taylor Swift. The two had been bickering back and forth on Twitter not so long ago, and so their stage collaboration put the kibosh on that. Later in the evening, Swift would come out to present the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award to Kanye West. Of course, Swift delicately buried the hatchet between them in regards to Kanye stealing her spotlight back in 2009 during the now infamous “Imma let you finish but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time” interruption. Two beefs squashed, and one emerges: Nicki Minaj managed to squeeze in a snipe at Miley when the “Anaconda” artist took the stage to accept the award for Best Hip-Hop Video. Host Miley apparently said some nasty things about Minaj in the press recently, and Minaj wasn’t ready to go quietly into the night. You could argue that the moment was scripted, but when the camera swung over to Miley just as she was about to start the next segment, she looked genuinely surprised and taken aback by it all. If MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch ever makes a comeback, I think they’ve got their first matchup all lined up for them now.

All in all, it was a rather lackluster VMAs. In terms of memorable performances, there really were only two: Tori Kelly blew away the competition with her talented set of pipes singing a powerful rendition of her single “Should’ve Been Us;” and The Weeknd’s massive hit “Can’t Feel My Face” got the crowd to its feet, even Kanye West was dancing in the aisles! Speaking of Mr. West, he accept the Vanguard Award late in the telecast. And instead of performing a medley of hits like Justin Timberlake did last year, he stormed the stage and presented a classic Kanye rant that went on for far too long. In a nutshell, he admitted he was high and he’s running for president in 2020. That last part is a joke…I think.

Curious about the winners? It shouldn’t come as any surprise that T-Swift walked away with the most Moonman statues, this year specially designed by fashion designer Jeremy Scott. Her “Bad Blood” music video, which has racked nearly 500 million views on YouTube, was crowned Video of the Year and “Blank Space” was named Best Pop Video and Best Female Video. That video, mind you, has been viewed over 1.1 million times on YouTube! Elsewhere, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars took home the award for Best Male Video for “Uptown Funk,” Big Sean, Kanye West, and John Legend’s “One Man Can Change the World” won Best Video with a Social Message, Fall Out Boy remains relevant winning Best Rock Video for “Uma Thurman,” and Fetty Wap is The Artist to Watch thanks to his uber-popular banger “Trap Queen.”

Click here for the full list of winners.

The first ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ teasers have arrived

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Here we go again. FX is back with new, frightening teasers to promote the upcoming season of American Horror Story. The fourth season is subtitled Hotel and it stars Lady Gaga this time around, not Jessica Lange. The video embedded above houses the two new teasers titled “Do Not Disturb” and “Beauty Rest.” It’s hard to say if any of the characters featured here will show up in Hotel, but those razor-sharp nails strangling the beautified bald man look mighty familiar if you ask me. The featured song? That’s Heidi Feek’s cover of “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Returning to the anthology drama this year: Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Evan Peters, Matt Bomer, Sarah Paulson, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O’Hare, Finn Wittrock, Lily Rabe, Emma Roberts, and Mare Winningham. Newcomers include Cheyenne Jackson (Glee), Max Greenfield (New Girl), Richard T. Jones (Hawaii Five-0), Naomi Campbell (Empire), and Darren Criss (Glee).

American Horror Story: Hotel debuts October 7 on FX. Stick it here for more teasers like these; if the past is any indication, this small trickle will open the floodgates to more tantalizing sneak peeks. Continue reading The first ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ teasers have arrived →

‘Star Wars’ @ D23: ‘Rogue One’ cast, ‘Episode IX’ director, theme park lands, ‘Force Awakens’ poster & more!

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This weekend, Disney hosted its fourth D23 Expo in Anaheim, California celebrating all things Disney, Pixar, and the like. Saturday was dedicated to Star Wars and man oh man were fans in for a treat. With The Force Awakens opening this holiday season, Disney and Lucasfilm are ramping up anticipation for the massive return to George Lucas’ timeless creation. At D23, many exciting announcements were made regarding Rogue One, Episode IX, and new theme park attractions.

It’s all packed inside, so what are you waiting for? Dive in! Continue reading ‘Star Wars’ @ D23: ‘Rogue One’ cast, ‘Episode IX’ director, theme park lands, ‘Force Awakens’ poster & more! →

E3 2015: Sony relies on classic franchises to invigorate the PS4

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Sony is second to show off its latest wares at E3 2015. Following Microsoft’s impressive lineup of first and third party games coming to Xbox One this year and beyond, was Sony about to keep up and keep the hits coming? Jump after the break for the full rundown. Continue reading E3 2015: Sony relies on classic franchises to invigorate the PS4 →

‘Twin Peaks’ revival back from the dead with series creator David Lynch at the helm

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Hope you didn’t leave your cup of damn fine coffee out in the cold for too long–Showtime’s Twin Peaks revival is back on! Following fallout with the premium cable network over contractual concerns, series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost are once again confirmed to return fans of the cult serialized drama back to the mysterious, surreal place that is and forever will be Twin Peaks.

As originally reported, Lynch is directing the new episodes based on scripts written by Lynch and Frost. Plot details remain under wraps; what we do know is that the limited series is not a reboot but in fact a continuation of the story to take place 25 years after the events that unfolded in the original series’ run. Actor Kyle MacLachlan, who is red-hot coming off his memorable guest stint on ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is reprising his role as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper; in a series of tweets he made official (again) his return to the show.

What’s changed following the recent round of negotiations? The original plan was to bring Twin Peaks back as a limited series to run nine episodes. In a statement caught by Deadline, Showtime president David Nevins expands on the length of the upcoming series:

“This damn fine cup of coffee from Mark (Frost) and David tastes more delicious than ever,” said Nevins. “Totally worth the extra brewing time and the cup is even bigger than we expected. David will direct the whole thing which will total more than the originally announced nine hours. Preproduction starts now!!”

It proved to be a storied journey to get to this point. Showtime announced Twin Peaks‘ return to the airwaves in October of last year, and it was only five months later when you could start to see things falling apart. In April, Lynch publicly announced the unfortunate news of the revival’s demise: “After 1 year and 4 months of [total] negotiations, I left because not enough money was offered to do the script the way I felt it needed to be done,” he tweeted. Thankfully, Showtime continued to hold out hope. With the help of the #SaveTwinPeaks campaign headed up by original members of the cast begging for Lynch’s return, all was made right and the show is most definitely coming back.

With the original creators at the helm, the supernatural series that paved the way for modern, long-running classics such as The X-Files and Lost is coming back 25 years later, just like Laura Palmer promised in that season 2 cliffhanger. Twin Peaks fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

Upfronts: CBS benches multi-cam sitcoms to clear the way for single-cams & ‘Supergirl’

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CBS is the last of the Big Four Networks to present its upcoming portfolio of new series. Three new dramas and two single-cam comedies are debuting in the fall. Perhaps the most high-profile show of the bunch is Supergirl from Greg Berlanti (the prolific producer behind The CW’s Arrow and The Flash) and starring Glee‘s Melissa Benoist. She stars as Kara Zor-El, Superman’s cousin, and the show plans to follow her journey of “embracing her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.” When the new TV season kicks off in September, The Eye’s Monday nights will consist of The Big Bang Theory, new feel-good single-cam sitcom with a large ensemble cast Life in Pieces, and returning procedurals Scorpion and NCIS: Los Angeles. Supergirl will join the second half of that lineup in the plum Mondays-at-8 timeslot in November when TBBT and Life in Pieces move to Thursday. Tuesday is home to flagship NCIS, spinoff NCIS: New Orleans, and the Bradley Cooper-produced Limitless, which is a sequel series to his 2011 sci-fi film about expanding the limits of the mind with the fictional drug NZT. (Cooper features prominently in the pilot, and he will recur on the series.) Survivor kicks of Wednesday nights, followed by Criminal Minds and new medical drama Code Black toplined by Marcia Gay Harden and Luis Guzman–it’s being described as ER on steroids; looks intense. When Thursday Night Football concludes in November, the night’s lineup will look like this: The Big Bang Theory, Life in Pieces, Mom, new sitcom Angel in Hell starring Glee‘s Jane Lynch with Maggie Lawson (Psych), and Elementary. Fridays pack The Amazing Race, Hawaii Five-0, and Blue Bloods. And lastly Sunday screens Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, and CSI: Cyber.

New series being held for midseason or later include spinoff Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders with Gary Sinise and a TV adaptation of buddy-cop franchise Rush Hour starring Jon Foo as Detective Lee and Justin Hires as Det. Carter. To make room for Supergirl on Mondays and Limitless on Tuesdays, CBS is benching sitcoms 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly, and The Odd Couple, as well as drama Person of Interest for midseason. It’s been confirmed that POI‘s next season is shortened to 13 episodes; all signs (shorter episode count, dwindling ratings, and the fact that CBS shortened and saved for midseason The Mentalist before ending it) point to this being the fifth and final season for the epic procedural/serial hybrid. CBS also made it official that flagship CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will not be returning for a 16th season; instead, it will wrap up storylines with a two-hour finale airing Sunday, Sept. 27 that will bring back original stars William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger. CSI star Ted Danson is relocating to spinoff CSI: Cyber to play opposite Patricia Arquette, kicking out Cyber‘s Peter MacNicol in the process.

Jump after the break to preview CBS’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: CBS benches multi-cam sitcoms to clear the way for single-cams & ‘Supergirl’ →

’24: Live Another Day’ gets movie trailer treatment and it wows

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For those of you still holding out hope that a 24 movie will be made, here is your fix. FOX has released a “movie trailer” hyping the upcoming return of Jack Bauer. After years of speculation, 24 is being resurrected as a 12 episode event series for TV and not as a feature film; however, fans will likely treat this as one long 12-hour movie because in essence that’s what it really is. Need proof? Mash play on the two-minute and twenty-one second trailer embedded above for an unabashedly thrilling look at the new season of 24: Live Another Day. Featuring an all-star cast in a brand new location, the new 24 is shaping up to be as fun and addicting (if not more so) than ever before.

24: Live Another Day premieres May 5 on FOX. Jump after the break to read the latest logline. Continue reading ’24: Live Another Day’ gets movie trailer treatment and it wows →