Charting A Course Through The Mundane
Just a quick heads up for those of you who are fans of the gritty French police drama Braquo, (which we voted as series of 2011), that the second series starts this Sunday on FX UK at 10pm.
Scriptwriter Abdel Raouf Dafri has promised that the new series ratchets up the brutality and violence to a whole new level. Count us in.
If like us you can’t wait for the suave silver tongued cavalier Don Draper to return to your small screen then take a quick peek at these two teaser trailers for the fifth series of the multi-award winning Mad Men.
As you’ll see all the elements that made the series a resounding success are still in place, smoking, sex, drinking, smoking, scandal, sex, fashion and smoking. Nothing is as much fun as watching Mr Draper gleefully ride that shiny Helter Skelter of debauchery and self loathing further down into his own personal abyss. The new series will air on Sky Atlantic here in the UK on March 27th with a special double bill opener.
No it’s not what you think.
Shawn Ryan, the writer and creator of possibly the second greatest police/crime drama series ever made for television was asked by website C21 Media if he had a million dollars what would he invest in.
His answer was to fund a national search for real men to teach them how to act and mold them into powerful TV stars. In his own words:
‘It’s really hard to find some solid male TV stars these days.’
You can watch the short interview video by charting a course for HERE. Hey Shawn, if you happen to ever read this flimsy article we just want you to know that we are pirates and Scottish and can be reached by email; hmsfriday@gmail.com.
(via C21 Media)
This is indeed sad news to start a day with. Andy Whitfield, who played the lead role in the hit TV series Spartacus: Blood & Sand died at his home in Sydney, Australia at the age of 39.
Whitfield was diagnosed 18 months ago with Lymphoma and was forced to leave the show to receive treatment in New Zealand, but when his condition grew gradually worse his role was taken over by another actor for the second series.
His manager Sam Maydew spoke to the press: , (if the following statement doesn’t give you even a tiny hint of a lump in your throat you are clinically dead).
“On a beautiful sunny Sydney spring morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful young warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18 month battle with lymphoma cancer,” Whitfield’s wife Vashti said in a statement. “He passed peacefully surrounded by love. Thank you to all his fans whose love and support have help carry him to this point. He will be remembered as the inspiring, courageous and gentle man, father and husband he was.”
Here’s four glorious minutes of footage from the next series of AMC’s The Walking Dead.
A lot of people are criticising the series by suggesting that it’s boring and the storyline doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Really? All looks good from this end, as fans of sci-fi and horror we think this series has more creativity than most movies released in what has to be considered a piss poor summer so far. This trailer confirms that belief, just look how it ratchets up the tension in the motorway scene.
The new series is slated to start in October.
Here’s the trailer for US series The River, a supernatural mystery directed by Oren Peli, the man behind the original Paranormal Activity movie.
As you can see from the video above he’s carried over his trademark schtick of people flying backwards into cameras. Hey, if it worked the first time…
Here’s The River’s official synopsis:
Famed explorer Dr. Emmet Cole went looking for magic deep in the uncharted Amazon and never returned. The shocking truth about his disappearance is out there, somewhere, just waiting to be discovered. To the millions of kids who grew up watching his nature show, Dr. Cole was a hero. To his own son, Lincoln, he was more of an enigma. Now, six months after he vanished, Lincoln is finally ready to bury the past when Dr. Cole’s emergency beacon suddenly goes off. At the urging of his mother, Tess, Lincoln reluctantly joins her on a search for his father. To fund the rescue, they agree to let Dr. Cole’s cagey ex-producer, Clark, film the mission documentary-style. The mixed crew of old friends and new acquaintances includes the sexy and resourceful Lena (Eloise Mumford), loyal mechanic Emilio (Daniel Zacapa) and lethal bodyguard Captain Kurt Brynildson (Thomas Kretschmann).
Does anyone else find the whole faux documentary genre confusing? View the trailer again and you’ll notice that in some scenes you’re watching through the fictional director’s lens, (the guy they’ve hired to film their search for Dr Emmet Cole), the next you’re back on planet normal watching a scene through Oren Peli’s lens. Kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think?
We’re pirates anchored off the UK so it’s against our code to refer to the above trailer using the word ‘season’, it’s ‘series’ and let us speak no more of this matter.
As you can see Sooki and Co will have to deal with a coven of witches and all things occult..whilst still finding time to whip off all their undergarments. It premieres in the States on June 26th so expect it on these shores some time soon after.
If you managed to catch the first episode of Sky One’s latest US police procedural drama The Chicago Code last night, then you wasted your sweet, sweet time.
Turns out Shawn Ryan, who’s previous series The Shield was a massive success, yesterday used Twitter to inform fans of the unfortunate news that Fox producers have pulled the plug on his show. The Hollywood Reporter later confirmed that:
Shawn Ryan’s freshman police drama The Chicago Code with Jason Clarke, Jennifer Beals and Matt Lauria is done. This is The Shield creator’s second cancellation this season; the first came with FX’s Terriers, which was not renewed for a second season. The showrunner reacted on Twitter, “Fox suits loved the show, but have a business to run.”
So there you go, it’s entirely up to you if you want continue watching this doomed series which is currently airing on Sky One on Thursdays at 9pm.
We don’t watch British TV here at HMS Friday, mainly because most of it is utter crap. From the little we’ve seen of Channel Four’s, ‘ain’t it grim up north’, series Shameless, we’ve not been that impressed. It always struck us as trying too hard to be controversial. But obviously American TV producers saw some potential in the programme, so much so they went and remade the entire series with William H Macy in the pivotal role of Frank Gallagher, this time struggling to keep his family of misfits together in the city of Chicago. We’ve also been reliably informed that another Channel Four series Skins has been given the US treatment too and early word suggests that it’s also a bag of no use.
N.B. Notice the change in music when the ‘heartfelt hardship’ portion of the trailer kicks in around the 3.15 mark? Nothing tugs at those heart strings than relatable human struggles, especially when set to quirky, xlophone based music.
HMS Friday 