This looks interesting. The only version of the classic novel I've ever seen was the 1960's Francois Truffaut one with Julie Christie, and it wasn't that great. This already looks like a big improvement, and with talent like this, including 99 Homes director Ramin Bahrani, how could it not be? No premiere date yet, but it's coming out in the spring, so I'll keep an eye out.
New Trailers for Upcoming Seasons of 'Jessica Jones,' 'Silicon Valley'
Spring TV season is right around the corner! Here's a new trailer for Season 2 of Jessica Jones, which is going to delve into her backstory and family history. Looks like Kilgrave is back too, although I'm really hoping that's just a dream sequence. It drops on March 8th.
And here's the new one for Season 5 of Silicon Valley, starting March 25th, a show which has never declined in quality or humor for as long as I've watched it, although I do wonder how much longer it might go, since the whole premise of the show relies on the guys never fully reaching success.
'Homeland' Season 7 Starts on Sunday Night
Homeland's changed a lot over the seasons, but after all these years I'm in it 'til the end at this point. Ever since Brody's death the show has basically revamped itself each year, telling self-contained seasonal arcs, but this time it looks like a continuation of last year's President Keane storyline. The show plots its stories with real world parallels but was caught flat-footed (as we all were) when Elizabeth Marvel's Keane, who started out as an obvious good but hated Hillary-type figure had to be morphed into a paranoid wannabe dictator who might actually be some sort of spy? Yeah, it was contrived, but give 'em a break, they were not expecting to get saddled with Trump. So now here we are and the show is going for what looks like a government conspiracy from the inside with Saul pulled into the mix and Carrie on the outside worming her way in. The seventh season premiere is this Sunday night at 9pm on Showtime.
'Jessica Jones' Season 2 Debuts in March
Yay! A full trailer for the new season of Jessica Jones, which is returning after two and a half years off the air. I guess we saw her in The Defenders, but her own show was far superior and I'm excited it's finally coming back. The season drops on March 7th. As a doomed Luke/Jessica shipper though, I just wish Mike Colter's Luke Cage could be in it. Sniff.
'iZombie' Returns for Season 4 on February 26th
Yay! This CW show remains one of my faves, and is finally coming back for its fourth season soon. After last year's premise altering finale, the show takes place in an essentially new universe this season, where zombies have come out of the shadows and taken over the city. It annoys me that Ravi (Rahul Kohli) looks like he's become a zombie now (we need SOME remaining humans on the show), but I can't wait until this one starts again.
'This is Us' and 'Veep' Win Top SAG Awards
The Handmaid's Tale whiffed tonight, with Claire Foy taking it from Elisabeth Moss (damn! should have stuck with my first instinct on that one) and NBC's This is Us taking ensemble. I also should have considered that they might move over to Veep on the comedy side, given that that show hadn't won here yet. What was I thinking? Nice to see a couple of surprises at least, in the TV categories.
SAG WINNERS:
- MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: William H. Macy, Shameless
- FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
- ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES: Veep
- MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Sterling K. Brown, This is Us
- FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Claire Foy, The Crown
- ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES: This is Us
- MALE ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/TV MOVIE: Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies
- FEMALE ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/TV MOVIE: Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
SAG TV Predictions
TV predictions are a shot in the dark, but here goes:
MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA
- Jason Bateman- Ozark
- Sterling K. Brown- This is Us
- Peter Dinklage- Game of Thrones
- David Harbour- Stranger Things
- Bob Odenkirk- Better Call Saul
SAG likes to go to veterans, but in this case I bet it will be the Emmy and Golden Globe winner Sterling K. Brown.
Winner: Sterling K. Brown
Alternate: David Harbour
Spoiler: Bob Odenkirk
FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA
- Mille Bobby Brown- Stranger Things
- Claire Foy- The Crown
- Laura Linney- Ozark
- Elisabeth Moss- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Robin Wright- House of Cards
I would say probably Elisabeth Moss again, but I could see Claire Foy getting this, since it was her last turn as the young Queen Elizabeth II. But safest bet is to stick with Moss.
Winner: Elisabeth Moss
Alternate: Claire Foy
Spoiler: Robin Wright
MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY
- Anthony Anderson- Black-ish
- Aziz Ansari- Master of None
- Larry David- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Sean Hayes- Will & Grace
- William H. Macy- Shameless
- Marc Maron- GLOW
Macy has been on a streak lately at SAG, and I’m not sure if they’re ready to go to someone else yet. Could go back to returning vets Larry David or Sean Hayes, could be Aziz Ansari. Or maybe there’s too many vote splits with the newcomers and Macy just takes it again. Stumped on this one.
Winner: William H. Macy
Alternate: Aziz Ansari
Spoiler: Larry David
FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY
- Uzo Aduba- Orange is the New Black
- Alison Brie- GLOW
- Jane Fonda- Grace and Frankie
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus- Veep
- Lily Tomlin- Grace and Frankie
This has bounced back and forth between Uzo Aduba and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for several years now, and I don’t think it will change hands yet. Julia for the win. Again.
Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Alternate: Uzo Aduba
Spoiler: Jane Fonda
MALE ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/TV MOVIE
- Benedict Cumberbatch- Sherlock: The Lying Detective
- Jeff Daniels- Godless
- Robert DeNiro- The Wizard of Lies
- Geoffrey Rush- Genius
- Alexander Skarsgard- Big Little Lies
As you can see, these categories combine supporting and lead, so is that enough to give Robert DeNiro the win over Alexander Skarsgard? Given SAG’s love of vets, I’m gonna say yes.
Winner: Robert DeNiro
Alternate: Alexander Skarsgard
FEMALE ACTOR IN A MINISERIES/TV MOVIE
- Laura Dern- Big Little Lies
- Nicole Kidman- Big Little Lies
- Jessica Lange- Feud: Bette and Joan
- Susan Sarandon- Feud: Bette and Joan
- Reese Witherspoon- Big Little Lies
Don’t think anyone is taking this away from Nicole Kidman.
Winner: Nicole Kidman
Alternate: Jessica Lange
ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA
- The Crown
- Game of Thrones
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Stranger Things
- This is Us
Stranger Things won it last year, can it do it again? The ensemble award tends to repeat for a while, yet The Handmaid’s Tale was such a big cast and the show so hyped. Going with Handmaid.
Winner: The Handmaid’s Tale
Alternate: Stranger Things
ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY
- Black-ish
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- GLOW
- Orange is the New Black
- Veep
I think this will go to the cast of GLOW, which is pretty massive and almost entirely female. Would be very deserving too.
Winner: GLOW
Alternate: Orange is the New Black (has won this multiple times, but I think they’re ready to move on)
'The Handmaid's Tale' Returns for Season 2 on April 25
Hulu's award-winning The Handmaid's Tale comes back on April 25th for its second season, and debuted a new teaser today with some haunting imagery. I was sort of mixed on Season 1 to be honest, but I'm going to watch the second because I'm really curious to see what happens now that it's gone beyond Margaret Atwood's original book. I think my feelings were highly influenced by having read the novel beforehand, and now that it can do whatever it wants, I may be less constrained by the material in my own head.
'Big Little Lies,' 'Handmaid's Tale' Win at Critics Choice Awards
These were mostly routine, although a couple of little surprises came through, like Ted Danson for The Good Place and Jimmy Kimmel for Best Talk Show. Otherwise though, it seems a lot of the TV awards are lining up with each other this year, at least for the big stuff. There's usually a little more variety than this.
- BEST COMEDY SERIES: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Ted Danson, The Good Place
- BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES: Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Walton Goggins, Vice Principals
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES: Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
- BEST DRAMA SERIES: The Handmaid’s Tale
- BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
- BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: David Harbour, Stranger Things
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES: Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
- BEST LIMITED SERIES: Big Little Lies
- BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TV: The Wizard of Lies
- BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES: Ewan McGregor, Fargo
- BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES: Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES: Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TV OR LIMITED SERIES: Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
- BEST TALK SHOW: Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- BEST ANIMATED SERIES: Rick and Morty
- BEST UNSTRUCTURED REALITY SERIES: Born This Way
- BEST STRUCTURED REALITY SERIES: Shark Tank
- BEST REALITY COMPETITION SERIES: The Voice
- BEST REALITY SHOW HOST: RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race
'Silicon Valley' Returns in March for Season 5 Without T.J. Miller
The first trailer for Season 5 of HBO's hit shows the guys for the first time without Erlich Bachman in the gang. T.J. Miller announced his departure very publicly from the show last summer to conflicting views from fans and critics, but with the recent accusations of sexual assault against him, the show and the network are probably relieved he left when he did. For the record, I predict the show survives just fine without him. The ensemble cast is good enough all around to carry it forward with no problems, and hopefully it leads to more screen time for its female characters, Monica (Amanda Crew) and Laurie (Suzanne Cryer), who remain underused for the most part.
