Katies recommendations on what to keep an eye out for this week on your TV.
TV News
Smother star Niamh Walsh has joined the cast of The Sandman, Netflix's adaptation of the Neil Gaiman comic series of the same name.
It follows "the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic - and human - mistakes he's made during his vast existence".
Walsh will play Ethel Cripps "a betrayed and determined young woman seeking to survive", with the present-day version of the character - "a woman of a hundred identities and a thousand lies" - set to be portrayed by Joely Richardson.
The cast of The Sandman also includes Vivienne Acheampong, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Tom Sturridge and David Thewlis.
The actor Samuel E Wright has died aged 74.
Wright sang the 1989 animation's Oscar-winning song Under The Sea and went on to play Mufasa in the original Broadway production of The Lion King.
Other roles included jazz star Dizzy Gillespie in Clint Eastwood's Bird.
Disney marked the actor's death with a billboard tribute at The Lion King musical's original New York home.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's going to be playing the former CEO of Uber in a drama about the app's rise.
The US actor - who's known for films like Inception and The Dark Knight Rises - will star as Travis Kalanick in 'Super Pumped.'
The series will adapt Mike Isaac's book Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber, which has become both one of the most successful and destructive start-ups in history. A Silicon Valley investment darling, it revolutionized transportation, but at the cost of radical upheaval and internal and external battles.
The series is from the co-creators of hit drama Billions.
An Official Schitt's Creek Book Coming This Autumn
Schitt's Creek is releasing an official coffee table book in October 2021, featuring a catalog of Moira Rose's wigs, a map of the town, and more
Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt's Creek is currently available for pre-order and will go to print in October from the acclaimed publishing house Black Dog & Leventhal.
Sex and the City Reboot
Earlier this year, HBO announced that a Sex and the City limited reboot series, titled And Just Like That... , was coming to HBO without Kim Catrall's Samantha Jones.
The new installment of Sex and the City revealed that Carrie’s longtime love, Mr. Big (Noth), would not make an appearance, leaving fans to speculate how the series would address his absence. But now, it appears Mr. Big is making a characteristically smooth and surprising entrance.
The revival follows Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda as they navigate the next chapter of their lives in their 50s and is slated for ten 30-minutes episodes.
What were we watching this week?
Friends Reunion
Available exclusively on Sky and streaming service NOW in the UK & Ireland. The TV special aired on demand from 8am and on Sky One at 8pm last night.
The long-awaited get together will see “Friends” stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer return to the iconic comedy’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank for a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show.
Plus great news for Friends fans as Sky Q adds over 10 iconic quotes from the show to its voice control function. To celebrate the highly anticipated Reunion, simply say “I’ll be there for you”, “We were on a break”, “Pivot! Pivot! Pivot!” Miss Chanandler Bong”“Joey doesn’t share food” and “Smelly Cat” into your remote.
Before We Die.
Before We Die started on Channel 4 on Wednesday, 26 May at 9PM. Episodes air weekly on TV but you can watch the full series online right now via the All 4 player here The series has six episodes.
When Detective Inspector Hannah Laing kisses her married lover Sean Hardacre goodbye one morning, she never imagines it will be the last time she will see her fellow detective alive. But Sean goes missing and his brutalised corpse is recovered the following day.
Channel 4’s new drama Before We Die is based on a Swedish series of the same name. It figures: viewing it felt exactly like watching something where all the important things had been lost in translation.
All this takes place via a script that seems to have been run through Google Translate and given to the actors without amendment. “Glad you’re doing OK,” says Hannah to Christian when they semi-mistakenly meet at his father’s party, “after what happened.” “You mean – after what you did!” he exclaims.
“It is also downright woeful from peripheral characters. Their dire performances make Before We Die such a weak, bleak, affectless hour that it almost becomes compelling again, albeit for all the wrong reasons. At the very least, it makes you appreciate the level of quality that we have come to take for granted in television dramas.” Said one reviewer
Mare of Easttown, the penultimate episode was on Monday and the final is coming up
The question of whether Erin was murdered by the same man who abducted Missy and Katie is hanging over the episode, but before long it transpires that the killer has a rock solid alibi for where he was the night Erin was killed. This is good for the continuing drama of the show, but the story does feel like it's lost a little intrigue now that we're not unearthing some wider conspiracy. Instead it's just the sad truth about how many women are killed by men... or is it?
Deacon Mark confesses to being with Erin on the night she went missing and to hiding her bike, and he's placed under arrest for tampering with evidence. Meanwhile, Mare takes satisfaction in informing Dylan he's the prime suspect in a murder investigation. This feels like a stretch really. These rogues might be trying to distract us, but it's pretty clear neither is the guy we're after here.
Mare is back in therapy, and realising that she is hiding behind other people's grief instead of facing her own. She recalls the night where Siobhan found Kevin hanging from a beam in the attic and she cut him down, unable to catch him because he was too heavy.
The smoking gun of this week's episode is a Ross family reunion jumper which Mare stumbles upon with an old shirt of Erin's, the date on the jumper matching the date inscribed on Erin's necklace. Mare presses Lori for details about the weekend, discovering Lori's husband John and his brother Billy were there that weekend. This is all escalating fast.
Mare of Easttown Sacrament Season 1, episode 7 Mare reaches the end of the investigation in this concluding chapter of the earthy and compelling crime drama. Can Mare bring the case that devastated her town to an end? And what will be left her own life in the aftermath?
Now if you want to stick with the faces of Mare of Easttown and can’t wait, you could catch up with a film this weekend starring Jean Smart.
Senior Moment is a 2021 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Giorgio Serafini and starring William Shatner, Jean Smart and Christopher Lloyd.
Victor Martin is a retired Air Force pilot and lifelong bachelor who relives his youth cruising in his mint condition, silver, 1955 Porsche 356, usually accompanied by his best friend, retired jeweler Sal Spinelli. Victor and Sal encounter Pablo Torres, driving a vintage Chevrolet Impala lowrider and challenge him to a friendly drag race
Victor loses control and spins out and is charged with reckless driving. His licence is revoked and his Porsche impounded as a result.
Forced to ride the bus, Victor meets Caroline Summers who owns an organic cafe called the "Coo Coo Cafe" and heads a grassroots organization to save the endangered desert tortoise. Victor particularly wins her heart when he and Sal, using Sal's expertise as a jewler, repair a 19th century coo coo clock, a family heirloom of Caroline's, which had not functioned for years, but for which her Cafe is named.
Now, what is coming up this week and for the Bank Holiday?
Sky Documentaries on Wednesday announced a Sky Original docuseries, Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow, which reveals the complicated and mysterious life of Ghislaine Maxwell and her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The 3x60 minutes series will air on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW on 28th June 2021.
The three-hour documentary investigates the powerful, connected, and mysterious Ghislaine Maxwell, who was once the heiress to the Maxwell fortune but whose life is rocked by a series of scandals and accusations when she meets Jeffrey Epstein, the serial sex offender. The series will untangle the complicated story of power, sex, and money, leading to Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest and pointing to her upcoming trial.
And Speaking of Epstein, in the back of my mind there is a connection between that, and the return of The Good Fight...
The Good Fight which is a spin off of the Good wife is going to premiere on Thursday, June 24.
And you’re right, in the last episode of Season 4 , which was cut short last year when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cast and crew to stop filming in the middle of production, the final epuisode started in Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell and rapidly devolved into a Dan Brownian explosion of conspiracy and mystery from there. Diane and the firm have been hired to re-examine the extremely examined case of Epstein’s death: suicide or murder?
Only seven of the intended 10 episodes were produced for season 4, bringing an abrupt end to that and many of the ongoing stories. These stories will be resolved in the new season.
So what else will this season focus on?
When a financial scandal ruins Diane's retirement plans, she joins an African American-owned firm that's gaining attention for taking on police brutality cases. Over the course of four seasons, "The Good Fight" has explored several current topics, like the #MeToo Movement and alt-right politics, as well as some more character-centric stories.
Now Narcos... but closer to home...
Liverpool Narcos Part 1 of 3
In the 1980s, Liverpool became the epicentre of a drugs boom that was to change Britain forever. The waves of heroin that began to spread through the city like a plague in the early eighties didn’t just offer new opportunities for the underworld – they changed everything above and below the ground, turning lives and communities upside down. In the first of three parts, we get unprecedented access to those at the forefront of the meteoric rise of heroin in the city and unravel the story of how a small group of criminals and underclass characters seized a new opportunity to flood Liverpool and turn themselves into multimillionaires overnight. A battle between some of the city’s biggest players and those dedicating their lives to catching them soon unfolded, and as drugs went mainstream and dealing became a multi-billion pound business, the stage was set for the pioneers of a new global trade that would ravage the city for decades to come. Thursday 3 June | 21.00 | Sky
And finally... another reunion.. is there any original content left out there?
Two actually! Natalie Morales has confirmed that Phil and Lil's mother, Betty DeVille, will be openly gay in the Rugrats reboot. Morales voices the character in the upcoming revival series from streaming service, Paramount+. The original Rugrats show aired on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 2005, in addition to several movies, spin-offs, and TV specials.
A Scooby-Doo reunion special will air on The CW. Hanna-Barbera first introduced the world to the mystery gang in 1969. Velma, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and the unforgettable talking pup Scoobert Doobert, quickly took pop culture by storm. Now, with over 45 different films and 14 television series, Scooby-Doo is considered one of the most famous animated properties of all time. And now, it's coming back in a new special.
The Scooby-Doo Reunion Special will air on the CW. It brings the meddling kids to the Warner Bros. Studios lot to look back on their 52 years of solving mysteries. As the group reminisces about their most iconic mystery cases and the filming process, something strange ensues. The series will be produced by the real-life Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Bros. Unscripted Television teams in association with Warner Horizon and Abominable Pictures, which includes Jonathan Stern as executive producer.
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