Category Archives: Entertainment

TV reminder: ‘The Walking Dead’ premieres tonight at 9PM on AMC [Update: The ratings are in…]

Michonne. The Governor. Woodbury. The prison. There has been so much excitement about what’s coming next on The Walking Dead and now the time has finally arrived to regroup with Rick and our gang of zombie apocalypse survivors. Eye this season’s key art above that features Rick Grimes front and center (once again) atop an overturned bus outside the zombie-infested prison. Gotta love the tagline: “Fight the dead. Fear the living.” Next dive in the galleries below to view character profiles and pictures from tonight’s season premiere, “Seed.”

The Walking Dead premieres tonight (10/14) at 9PM on AMC. And don’t forget to tune into Talking Dead immediately following the episode; host Chris Hardwick will be talking to showrunner Glen Mazzara and Michonne–er, Danai Gurira.

Ramp up anticipation by watching the season 3 trailer a couple more times. It’s that good.

Update: Get used to it–AMC’s The Walking Dead shatters records when it premieres. 10.9 million viewers tuned into the season three premiere last night; that’s up 50 percent from the season two opener. It also performed extremely well in the two coveted demos; in adults 18-49 it attracted 7.3 million viewers (up 52 percent from the season two premiere) and in adults 25-54 it attracted 6.1 million viewers (up 46 percent). If you include the two encore airings of the episode, a grand total of 15.2 million people saw “Seed.” The show managed to garner this many viewers while Dish subscribers were left out in the cold due to a contract dispute. AMC can rightfully boast that last night’s return of The Walking Dead is most-watched drama telecast in basic cable history and in the 18-49 demo it is the highest-rated series this fall–including cable and broadcast offerings. Hats off to the zombies. I don’t think you’ll ever have to tell this show to break a leg going into a premiere. Oops, sorry Hershel…too soon?

[Images via AMC]

Clark Gregg to reprise Agent Phil Coulson in Marvel’s ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ pilot

Now isn’t this a nice surprise. Marvel is resurrecting Agent Phil Coulson for their upcoming TV series S.H.I.E.L.D. Yesterday at New York Comic Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Avengers director Joss Whedon announced that actor Clark Gregg will appear in the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot as the agent we’ve come to love and mourn. Nothing more was spilled, unfortunately, but this should certainly hold you up for the time being. Jump after the break for a brief interview with Gregg.

S.H.I.E.L.D. will be written by Whedon, his brother Jed, and Jed’s wife Maurissa Tancharoen. They also serve as executive producers with Jeffrey Bell and Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb. The plan is for Joss to direct the pilot for ABC.

[Via Marvel] Continue reading Clark Gregg to reprise Agent Phil Coulson in Marvel’s ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ pilot

Kanye West drops “White Dress” for RZA’s “Iron Fists” soundtrack

Wu Tang Clan leader RZA is about to make his directorial debut with The Man with the Iron Fists, a martial arts film that promises a bloody good time. The cast is led by Russell Crowe, Lucy Lui, and RZA, and the pedigree behind it is high with Eli Roth writing (with RZA) and producing and Quentin Tarantino is credited as “presenting” the movie.

With RZA’s background in mind, it should come as no surprise that the soundtrack for Iron Fists features a lineup of great rappers. They include Ghostface Killah, Talib Kweli, Raekwon, Pusha T, and Kanye West. The track headlined by Kanye West and produced by West, RZA, Tapez, and Boogz is called “White Dress” and it sits above for your listening pleasure. If anything it will take you back to Ye’s College years as you’ll instantly recognize the classic sound.

After the break you’ll find the full soundtrack tracklist plus a trailer for the movie. The music releases October 23, and the The Man with the Iron Fists hits theatres November 2.

Update: The entire soundtrack is now available to stream for free here.

01 The Black Keys and RZA: “The Baddest Man Alive”
02 Ghostface Killah, M.O.P, and Pharoahe Monch: “Black Out”
03 Kanye West: “White Dress”
04 The Revelations: “I Forgot to Be Your Lover” [ft. Tre Williams]
05 Talib Kweli and RES: “Get Your Way (Sex as a Weapon)”
06 Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Kool G. Rap: “Rivers of Blood”
07 Method Man, Freddie Gibbs, and StreetLife: “Built for This”
08 24 Carat Black: “Poverty’s Paradise”
09 Killa Sin: “The Archer”
10 RZA and Flatbush Zombies: “Just Blowin’ in the Wind”
12 Corrine Bailey Rae: “Chains”
13 Pusha T and Raekwon: “Tick Tock”
14 Frances Yip: “Green is the Mountain”
15 The Wu-Tang Clan: “Six Directions of Boxing”
16 Mabel John: “Your Good Thing Is About to End”

Movie trailer: Anthony Hopkins is ‘Hitchcock’

Is Alfred Hitchcock rising from the grave? No, but you might make a double take when you watch this trailer for Hitchcock, a biopic that follows the famed director as he attempts to get one of his most adored films Psycho into theatres. Directed by a Brit Sacha Gervasi, the movie is based on Stephen Rebello’s non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho and it stars Anthony Hopkins as a convincing Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as Hitchcock’s wife Alma Reville and Scarlett Johansson and James D’Arcy as the leads of Psycho, Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The good-looking cast appears up to the challenge in this premiere trailer, and with a November 23 release date the movie will be up for contention at this year’s Oscars.

With Hitchcock releasing next month, the master of horror is getting the star treatment this year if you also factor in HBO’s upcoming TV film The Girl. This one stars Toby Jones as Hitchcock and it explores his questionable relationship with actress Tippi Hedren, the girl who starred in his films The Birds and Marnie, played by Sienna Miller. The Girl airs Saturday, October 20th at 9PM on HBO. The trailer sits after the break. Continue reading Movie trailer: Anthony Hopkins is ‘Hitchcock’

TV reminder: ‘Dr. Horrible’ airs tonight at 9PM on The CW

Now the nightmare’s real
Now Dr. Horrible is here
To make you quake with fear
To make the whole world kneel…

In 2008 during the Writers’ Guild of America strike the Whedon brothers (Joss, Jed, and Zack) and Maurissa Tancharoen wrangled together Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Nathan Fillion (Castle), Felicia Day (The Guild), and Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) to produce the low budget but high value product Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. They released it to the Internet in three acts and quickly it gained in popularity. Four years later the catchy musical web series is about to air in its entirety on television.

Relive the action-packed tale tangled in love featuring Dr. Horrible, Captain Hammer, Penny, and Moist tonight (10/9) at 9PM on The CW. If you’ve been living under a rock like Patrick Star and haven’t seen it yet, this is must-see TV and you are in for a real treat. Head up Billy buddy it’s almost time to watch! Gather your friends and earn your Ph.D in Horribleness. Watch a CW-produced trailer after the break. Quick note: Bad Horse, he’s bad!

And for you hardcore fans out there, a sequel is most definitely in the works. Though Joss has The Avengers 2 on the horizon and his family (Jed, Zack, and Jed’s wife Maurissa) are starting to prep the Marvel ABC series S.H.I.E.L.D., the team behind Dr.H plans to begin production on Dr.H2 this spring with a tentative release in July 2013, five years after the original splashed on the ‘Net. Continue reading TV reminder: ‘Dr. Horrible’ airs tonight at 9PM on The CW

‘Louie’ will return for a fourth season in Spring 2014

FX renewed Louie for a fourth season this summer, but you won’t see the comedian return to the airwaves for quite some time. Instead of premiering in late June as is tradition, Louie will come back in Spring 2014. Why the hold-up? In a conference call today Louis C.K. said he’s taking an extended break from the show for two main reasons: to focus on touring (which runs from this month all the way to February 2013) and to allot time to making the next season as creative, entertaining, and funny as possible. “The last three seasons have been this surge of fun and work and stories and it’s been great, but I want the show to keep getting better,” he said. “That’s my goal, and I don’t want it to be making the donuts, I want it to be something that comes from somewhere important and stays funny.”

Louie envisions his FX show to live on for nine seasons. The first three seasons have served as the first act of a trilogy, making season four the beginning of a new phase for the show. Following the splendid three-episode Late Night arc and the absurdity that ensued in the season three finale, I personally cannot wait to see what Louie has up his sleeve.

[Via Deadline; EW]

NBC delays the return of ‘Community’ & ‘Whitney’

Greendale Community College was supposed to open its doors for a Dan Harmon-less fourth season next Friday, October 19. Today NBC released a statement saying the network is delaying the return of Community and its Friday night companion Whitney.

Given the success we’ve had for the past four weeks – including winning the first week of the season in A18-49 – we’ve decided to continue to concentrate our promotional strength on our new NBC shows that are scheduled Monday through Wednesday and have therefore decided to hold COMMUNITY and WHITNEY from their previously announced premieres of October 19th. Without having to launch these comedies on Friday at this time, we can keep our promotion focused on earlier in the week — plus we will have both comedies in our back pocket if we need to make any schedule changes on those nights.  When we have a better idea of viewing patterns in the next few weeks, we will announce new season premieres of WHITNEY and COMMUNITY.

Let’s extrapolate. First, NBC is prioritizing the promotion of its current fall comedies Go OnThe New NormalAnimal Practice, and Guys with Kids. Second, they are acknowledging the possibility that some of their new comedies (namely Animal Practice and Guys with Kids) may not make it much longer. If one or both of these relatively low rated shows, Community and/or Whitney could ditch the Friday graveyard and call Wednesday night a comfortable home. Time will tell, fellow Human Beings.

[Via Deadline]

FOX orders full season of ‘The Mindy Project’, extends ‘Ben And Kate’s run

FOX believes in its Tuesday night comedy lineup. Today the network handed out additional episodes for its two new fall comedies. The Mindy Project has been given “the back nine,” meaning it has received a full season order and will produce a total of 22 episodes. Ben And Kate, meanwhile, will air six more episodes on top of its original 13 episode order and so its first season will comprise of 19 installments. Why didn’t Ben And Kate receive the typical “back nine?” Well that’s simply because FOX has another new comedy on tap for midseason that is set up to take its place, The Goodwin Games.

FOX chairman Kevin Reilly on the pickups: “Ben And Kate and The Mindy Project have everything we want to stand for in comedy: smart writing, hugely appealing casts and comedy that feels contemporary and real–which is why we’re confident they will continue to build on what is already an appointment comedy night for young, influential audiences on Tuesdays.”

The ratings for these two so far haven’t been exceptional, but this is further proof that FOX is invested in them. The Mindy Project pilot received a 2.4 rating in the adults 18-49 demo and attracted 4.6 million viewers; these numbers dropped (as they do) in week 2 to a 1.9 share and 3.68 million viewers. Ben And Kate‘s premiere received a 2.1 rating in 18-49 and attracted 4.2 million viewers; these dropped to 1.6 and 3.2 million viewers the following week.

In its first outing, The Mindy Project didn’t sit entirely well with me. Come episode 2, however, I was fully engaged and excited for more from Mindy Kaling. Ben And Kate, on the other hand, managed to surprise me by how incredibly hysterical and perfectly casted it is so early in its run.

[Via Deadline; EW]

FUNNY: Jimmy Fallon spoofs the debate, tells Jim Lehrer to “shut the f**k up”

If you watch the Presidential debate this week, you will find this spoof to be absolutely hilarious. A day after the debate, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon debuted this sketch which stars Fallon as Mitt Romney, an Obama impersonator, and Late Night head writer A.D. Miles as frustrated moderator Jim Lehrer. Lehrer had a difficult time keeping the candidates on the same subject and time contraints made matters worse. In this spot-on spoof, Romney and Obama team up and tell Lehrer to “shut the f**k up.” Enjoy.

J.J. Abrams teases ‘Star Trek’ sequel with Conan

Director J.J. Abrams sat down with Conan O’Brien this week and during their interview Abrams–against the studios wishes–shared with the audience a clip from the upcoming Star Trek sequel. And it has a name now, by the way; it’s Star Trek Into Darkness.

Get this: the clip is only three frames long. After you watch it unfold at the speed of light in the video above, jump after the break for a better look at what you think you’ve seen. Conan correctly predicted that the Internet would freeze frame the very first look at Zachary Quinto as Spock in a volcano. There really isn’t much that can be gleaned from this, but at least it’s something.

Star Trek Into Darkness releases May 17, 2013. Continue reading J.J. Abrams teases ‘Star Trek’ sequel with Conan

Adele is selected to sing the new Bond theme song “Skyfall”, hear it here

With every Bond movie comes a title sequence theme song. For Bond 23 aka Skyfall, the Grammy-award winning sensation Adele was chosen to produce the latest 007 track. She collaborated with producer Paul Epworth, the man who helped her turn “Rolling In The Deep” into the massive hit it has become. Adele’s vocals shine in this composition definitely worthy of the James Bond seal of approvement. What do you think? Thumbs up? Purchase the track at iTunes.

Skyfall opens November 9. And while you’re here, check out some snazzy posters in the gallery below.

Update: A new trailer that features Adele was recently whipped together. Check it out after the break.

Continue reading Adele is selected to sing the new Bond theme song “Skyfall”, hear it here

Kid Cudi drops new track off ‘Indicud’ album “King Wizard”

Cudi is back with another new track off his upcoming fourth studio album Indicud. The song is called “King Wizard” and it’s during the hook when Cudi blocks out haters and makes it clear this is his time: “I push the lames aside/They’ll learn…F**k all the talk/In time, they’ll burn…They’ll never take me alive/King Wizard.” Sample the beat and Cudi’s flow in the player below, and click the download button for keeps.

In related news, Cudder officially dropped Indicud‘s first single “Just What I Am” (Featuring King Chip) on iTunes this week.

[Via Complex]