AMC's phenomenally successful Walking Dead rolled into Comic Con with a new trailer for fans to eat up. This one is just as bloody as they like it, and the show returns on October 11th, right in line with the usual Halloween time frame. To think, I watched the pilot for this show when it aired and never once tuned in again. I don't feel the need to catch up though- I think this is going to be one of those shows I was just never in on.
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons Step up for 'Fargo' Season 2
This new teaser shows us more of the second season of FX's Fargo, coming in September. I ditched True Detective this season, but I'm prepared to stick with Fargo, which I always thought was the superior show anyway. I think this one will probably fare better with the new cast/story setup for the anthology thing, but you never know. Still, I think a 1970's set South Dakota setting looks promising and it's nice to see Kirsten Dunst back in something significant.
David Simon Returns to HBO with New Miniseries 'Show Me a Hero'
Attention, fans of The Wire. Showrunner David Simon is back with his new six-part miniseries Show Me a Hero, debuting on Aug 16th with the first two episodes. Oscar Isaac, one of my very favorite new actors (I'm telling you, if Hollywood was making the kinds of movies they did in the 1970's he'd be a new Al Pacino) is a young mayor forced to build low income housing in middle class neighborhoods, and the show deals with the ramifications of how that affects race relations in the city. Kind of timely, don't you think? It's directed Crash's Paul Haggis, but I'm sure this is David Simon's baby all the way. Looks good.
Four Sides of the Story to be Shown in Season 2 of 'The Affair'
A lot of people thought the best part of The Affair last season was the time spent on the jilted spouses Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson, neither of whom ever got a POV episode, so now it looks like showrunner Sarah Treem listened to that and will give their perspectives this year. I also though Tierney and Jackson were both great in their parts (better than leads Dominic West and Ruth Wilson even), but it didn't surprise me, because they've both always been solid and very natural actors on their past shows. I didn't actually think it was necessary to see things from their point of view though, since really, the affair that's the main part of the show doesn't involve them at all. But I think people must really identify strongly with the jilted parties in stories about affairs, for so many to want them to be focused on, when they're not really the center of anything. I guess that will give each character two episodes each for the season, which premieres in the fall.
CW Teases Superhero Lineup with New Promo
Okay, this little promo piece might be my favorite thing to come out of ComicCon so far. Ahead of the big CW superhero show panel tomorrow, they released this mash-up of their fall lineup (with Legends of Tomorrow included, which isn't debuting until winter or spring of next year, but will be set up on Arrow/Flash this fall), and with all the comic book scans included, I kinda love the look of it! I've kind of jumped all in with the CW comics block anyway, but way to keep the hype going, guys. White Canary looks the coolest here- so glad they figured out a way to resurrect Caity Lotz.
Doctor Who Meets Arya Stark in the Trailer for Season 9
An action packed look at the new season of Doctor Who came out of ComicCon today, with Peter Capaldi returning as the Doc, and Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams making an ominous appearance right at the end of it. Looks pretty cool, I have to admit. Doctor Who resumes September 19th.
Sherlock Goes Victorian in First Look at Christmas Special
Squee!!! I can't wait for this, obviously, and at Comic Con the Sherlock team released the first clip from the Victorian era Christmas special airing this year on the holiday (appropriately). Looks awesome! In other Sherlock news, the fourth season is apparently not airing until 2017 now (are you kidding me??), so this is going to have to hold us over for another year. Sigh.
Carrie and Saul Butt Heads in 'Homeland' Season 5
The teaser for the fifth season of Homeland is here, and Carrie's losing it again, but what else is new, right? I know the new season is set a few years later and takes place in Germany apparently, but I don't know what the topical, international threat is this time. Homeland returns in October.
Mulder and Scully Return in New Teaser for 'The X-Files' Revival
Who's excited for this, huh? We get out first glimpse (and I do mean glimpse- most of this footage is from past seasons) of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in Mulder and Scully garb right at the end of this new teaser, but it's still pretty cool to see them back on TV. The X-Files returns for six new episodes starting January 24th, 2016.
REVIEW: "Silicon Valley" Season 2
HBO's Sunday night comedy block this spring was a pretty good lineup, topped by the excellent second season of Mike Judge's Silicon Valley, a show that started out good but wobbly last year, then got on a roll, and continued its smoothness right off the bat this time around for one of the best comedy seasons in recent memory. The ensemble cast is so perfectly matched, with every character bound to recite at least one hilarious zinger per episode, but often two or three, and the rest of the supporting characters follow along in rhythmic fashion to make it look effortless.
The second season dealt with the lawsuit lodged by Hooli CEO Gavin Belson (Matt Ross, now co-starring) against Richard (Thomas Middleditch) and PIed Piper for intellectual property ownership, and Richard's attempts to fight off every strike thrown at him to launch his company. To tell you the truth, I know absolutely nothing about this industry and I can occasionally get lost in some of the technobabble (this is Mike Judge's area, not mine), but you know a show is damn good when that doesn't even matter and you can still find it funny. The jokes work on a satirical level but also just on a laugh out loud, gag and dry humor level. The chemistry between the cast is top notch, with Middleditch as the perfect straight man (the key to which is always in his befuddled reactions to the madness around him), and his coders and partners the sometimes annoying, always bickering, drily sardonic (Martin Starr really steps it up this year as the cynically deadpan Gilfoyle) group that can deliver any number of wisecracks the writers toss at them. Dinesh is forever put upon and unlucky in love, Jared is gloriously and cheerfully awkward, and TJ Miller, well...what is there to say about him, really? Miller's Erlich shines like no other in a cast filled with A-list scene stealers, and he makes me laugh out loud at least once every single week. If there's any kind of awards god for comedy, I wouldn't be surprised if his climactic episode where he testifies on behalf of Richard but of course runs afoul of everything he shouldn't say puts him in prime Emmy contention.
On top of all this perfection, the guest stars this season were also dynamite, with Suzanne Cryer coming in as the new CEO of Raviga and Peter Gregory replacement (who was of course portrayed by the late Christopher Evan Welch, whose death is handled in the first episode in an appropriately funny and respectful manner that shapes several punchlines around it without once missing the mark in tone), and she's a twitchy, strange presence that fits the show completely and doesn't get nearly enough screen time for how much potential she brings with her. And Richard's new benefactor, douchebag billionaire Russ Hanneman (think of a Mark Cuban-type), the guy who put "radio on the Internet" is played by Chris Diamantopoulos in sleazy, bombastic, insulting pompousness that he obviously relishes, while getting the chance to chomp at the scenery and unintentionally sabotage every move Richard makes. While there are memorable moments aplenty this season (Dinesh and Gilfoyle's SWAT board, the masturbating monkey, Erlich's epic "charm them with rudeness" tour, and Richard's race in the finale to stop the guys from deleting his algorithm forever), the show still hasn't managed to figure out how to have female characters of substance incorporated into the gang, although to their credit, they did try this season. Amanda Crew is still around as Monica, although she also still doesn't have much to do and is saddled with even more of a straight man role than Richard (the show also surprisingly didn't even follow up with the implied attraction between the two last season), and there's an episode that brings up the need to hire a female coder, since it would be a benefit in making them look good to the public (ha- way to face the critics head on). Sadly, when Alice Wetterland's Carla is hired, she gets a couple good lines for one episode and is then nudged to the side and seemingly forgotten by season's end.
This show is sometimes labeled a "dude-bro" comedy, like Entourage was, but I'd like to say for the record that Mike Judge's humor is nothing like that of Doug Ellin, and as somebody who never really liked Entourage or the characters on it (except occasionally Jeremy Piven's Ari, who did make me laugh, at least at first), I like this show so much that even its male dominated shenanigans don't bother me in the slightest. It's just funny. The idiosyncratic style of humor on this show may not be not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely mine and this run of ten episodes was one of the very best on television this year. Well done, guys.
Grade: A-
