Acting Slots Clearer for ‘People v. O.J. Simpson’

After months of speculation, the acting categories are becoming clearer for People v. O.J. Simpson

The Hollywood Reporter‘s Scott Feinberg reports today that FX and others have reached some tough decisions with respect to 2016 Emmy acting category placements for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Heading into Wednesday night’s season finale, the critically and publicly acclaimed limited series has maintained significant awards buzz since debuting in early February.

Given the huge and hugely talented cast, awards pundits were wondering which actors would be promoted into Lead categories and which would be relegated to the Supporting races. AwardsDaily TV’s own Jalal Haddad took a stab at predicting the ultimate Emmy haul for the series after its premiere episode.

Now, according to Feinberg, only Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the title role of O.J. Simpson and Courtney B. Vance in the pivotal role of Johnnie Cochran will compete in the Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie category. Sarah Paulson, whose legendary take on lead prosecutor Marcia Clark has already won raves, will naturally be promoted in the Lead Actress category.

Everybody else goes supporting. That leaves a potential bloodbath for acting slots at the 2016 Emmys. It could even greatly impact director/producer Ryan Murphy’s own American Horror Story: Hotel. Previous entries in the series have received multiple nomination in the supporting races.

But such high profile performances as John Travolta’s Robert Shaprio, David Schwimmer’s Robert Kardashian, and Sterling K. Brown’s brilliant take on Christopher Darden will be tough to beat for acting nominations. That’s not even including Nathan Lane, Evan Handler, Rob Morrow, Robert Morse, Steven Pasquale, Kenneth Choi, or Bruce Greenwood. The supporting actress category seemed more fertile for The People v. O.J. Simpson at the start with Connie Britton and Selma Blair making strong initial impressions. Their characters, however, haven’t had a great deal of subsequent screen time, making the pitch for Emmy nominations difficult.

Feinberg closes with some stats around Emmy nomination records The People v. O.J. Simpson have in its way. Roots holds the record for most Emmy nominations in the miniseries category with 37 bids. The most wins is currently held by John Adams with 13 wins. American Crime Story is much more likely to beat the John Adams record than the Roots record, although anything is possible.

Going into Wednesday night’s finale, it’s clear that all Ryan Murphy and director Anthony Hemingway need to do is stick the landing in a great way. If things go as well as they have been, then it will be difficult for Emmy voters to ignore.

#NetflixAndChill in April

Let’s get one thing out of the way – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt season two comes to Netflix on April 15. Now that we’ve all acknowledged that, let’s see what original April Netflix offerings will tempt your television palate this month.

Lost & Found Music Studios

Available today, this Canadian import is described by Netflix as “teen singers-songwriters in an elite music program form bonds of friendship, creativity and romance while turning their passion into their profession.” Internet buzz has this justly pegged as a Disney Channel wannabe. If you like that kind of thing, then what’s stopping you now? Stream away!

 

The Ranch

Also debuting today is Ashton Kutcher’s return to sitcom glory in The Ranch. He’s dragging along Debra Winger, Sam Elliott, Elisha Cuthbert, and Danny Masterson along for the ride. This comedy was recorded in front of a live studio audience and has a Roseanne throw-back feeling about it. The story here is Kutcher’s Colt Bennett returns to his hometown after failing to make the cut in semi-pro football. Gotta admit that I’m really curious to see Debra Winger in action again. Ashton Kutcher less so.

 

Cuckoo

That’s right, April 15 is a huge day in any Netflix-streaming household. Yup it’s the return of Netflix’s Cuckoo, starring Taylor Lautner. Cuckoo is apparently a British sitcom that originally aired on the BBC. It also originally starred Andy Samberg as a hippie American who marries into a “veddy British family.” Lautner returns after debuting in season two as Samberg’s son. It’s supposed to be veddy funny. So here’s a polite golf clap for all involved.

 

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Yup, April 15 brings three things: Cuckoo season three, Tax Day, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Get ready to quote your way through the rest of the month after you binge the entire second season over the weekend. Aww hell, who am I kidding? Most of you will have it downed Friday night. Here’s the trailer.

 

Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping

April 22 gives us Patton Oswalt’s new stand-up hour, Talking for Clapping. I’ll go watch Ratatouille instead.

 

Danger Mouse

Netflix adds the animated series Danger Mouse on April 29. Danger Mouse is another British import which was rebooted in 2015 from a 1981 series. Danger Mouse is “the world’s greatest secret agent” and solves crimes with his hamster sidekick Penfold. The opening credits (seen below) certainly feels very 80s-authentic. And that’s always a good thing.

 

Special Correspondents

Ricky Gervais directs and stars in this British-Canadian comedy TV movie. Normally, that wouldn’t quite have me, but the cast for this April 29 debut is fantastic. In addition to Gervais, Correspondents stars Eric Bana, Vera Farmiga, Kelly MacDonald, Benjamin Bratt, Kevin Pollack, America Ferrera, and others. Netflix is marketing this as an “hilarious comedy,” but Gervais previously inferred the picture was more dry/satirical. See what you think.

 

Team Foxcatcher

Finally, April 29 also brings Team Foxcatcher, a documentary exploring everything you didn’t learn from the 2014 film Foxcatcher. In short, John du Pont was a shady, shady man whose jealousy lead to murder. As great as Steve Carrell was in his Oscar-nominated role as du Pont, there’s no doubt the story is more compelling seen with actual footage of his relationship with Dave Schultz.

 

The Path Review: A Escalator, or Ladder, to Nowhere

Hulu’s The Path slow burn and eerie performances make the new series a trip worth taking

I’ve often thought of cults in terms of a funny bit from The Simpsons. In the episode “Marge vs. the Monorail,” the final sequence features a running tally of Springfield’s stupid ideas, including an Escalator to Nowhere, with people taking a trip to the peak only to come crashing down with an off-screen thud. Strangely enough, that’s what Aaron Paul’s character Eddie discovers within his cult on Hulu’s The Path: there’s nothing at the top.

After the suicide of his brother years prior, Eddie enters into the Meyerist Movement, which preys upon the spiritually weak and desperate by promoting the idea of “The Ladder.” In the opening sequence of the show, the cult shows up in Rindge, New Hampshire to rescue victims of a tornado that’s swept through the area. We later learn that the cult arrived on the scene before even FEMA.

But after having a strange spiritual vision on a trip to Peru, Eddie returns home to his wife Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) a changed man. He starts sneaking around and having late-night conversations. Sarah follows him to a hotel, thinking he’s cheating on her. As it turns out, he’s meeting with a woman who believes the whole Meyerist Movement is a lie (although Sarah doesn’t know this).

But even though The Path is billed as an Aaron Paul series, a scene stealer is Hugh Dancy as Cal. He’s the guide of the movement, and like Sarah, he grew up in it. For a long time, Dancy was the resident cutie in films like The Jane Austen Book Club and Confessions of a Shopaholic, but it appears as if he’s holding over some creepiness from his days on NBC’s Hannibal. In the second episode titled “The Era of the Way,” Cal storms into a wealthy couple’s house and delivers a chilling ultimatum in order to save their son from his drug addiction.

The show also brings to light interesting questions about cults. When Eddie is debating whether it’s OK to stay in the Meyerist Movement, even if there is no truth to it, Alison (Sarah Jones) reminds him that that’s why he bought into it in the first place. Isn’t it important that there’s truth? It’s a compelling debacle. If it makes you happy, can you turn a blind eye?

The Path is perfect for Hulu’s format of week-to-week episodes. This is one show that works better with a slow reveal, rather than bingeing all at once. Aaron Paul may not have another Breaking Bad on his hands, but there’s a ton of new drama to delve into that hasn’t been explored on television. Even if there’s nothing at the top of the ladder, like so many of the Meyerist members, I’m still willing to take the ride.

Podcast: 69’ing with ‘Party Down’

Episode 69: On this week’s podcast, we deep dive into the cult classic comedy Party Down

Joey leads the Water Cooler Podcast gang through an analysis of Starz’s prematurely canceled 2009 comedy Party Down. If you’re not familiar with the show (as I wasn’t), then you’re definitely missing out. If you’re a fan of such office-environment comedy as The Office, Parks & Recreation, or even Superstore, then you should check out Party Down. This 2-season series stars Ken Marino, Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Lizzy Caplan, and other great actors in an engaging and hilarious workplace comedy.

During the podcast, the gang discusses their reactions to the show, the unexpected brilliance of Ken Marino, the success of a critical cast change, and what the comedy seems to be saying about the workplace and about what it means to have a successful career.

And once more my apologies for the delay in this week’s podcast. Check back with us on Monday for our next episode. Thanks for your patience and, as always, for being such loyal followers!

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Trailer: Make the World a Kimmier Place

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt‘s second season final trailer makes the world a ‘Kimmier’ place

There’s something to be said about the 89 trailers it apparently requires to introduce new content. Netflix is The Worst about this requirement of the modern TV era, having introduced 4 or 5 (I lost count) trailers for Daredevil season two. Here, they finally introduce a “final” trailer for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, imploring all of us to make our world a Kimmier place.

Funny thing, it doesn’t really show any actual content from season two.

Now, you can take that one of two ways. The cynic in you will say it’s because season two really sucks. But let’s put that person in a doomsday shelter, shall we? Instead, let’s embrace our inner optimists and proclaim that Netflix is keeping all the jokes for the full reveal.

What we’re left with is a sunny dance number where Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper) turns a grey world into bright pastels shimmy by shimmy. Tituss Burgess (shrieking “pinot noir”) and Jane Krakowski drop by to remind you they’re in the show too.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt returns to Netflix April 15.

Why You Need to Binge ‘Shades of Blue’ Tonight

If you’re not watching JLo’s Shades of Blue, you need to rectify that immediately.

Jennifer Lopez is getting all serious for her latest role in the NBC cop drama Shades of Blue. Gone are the long honey blonde streaked hair and the Versace gowns. Replacing them is true grit. Lopez plays NYPD Detective Harlee Santos, a single mother who works in a circle of shady cops. Leading the circle is Lt. Matt Wozniak played by Ray Liotta. Together with Lopez and Drea De Mateo, these NYPD cops cash in when it comes to bribes.

When she’s nabbed by the FBI in an anti-corruption sting, Santos is forced to choose between her loyalty to her “family” and doing the right thing for her daughter by staying alive. The final episode of season one airs Thursday, March 31, on NBC at 10pm. Here are seven reasons why you should binge watch Shades of Blue right now.

1.  Jennifer Lopez…

Jennifer Lopez, Latina in a lead role. Jennifer Lopez, Executive Producer. Jennifer Lopez, NYPD Detective. She kicks butt in this role and takes no prisoners. This is Lopez’s best dramatic performance since Out of Sight.

… and, more importantly, Jennifer Lopez’s hair.

This is the Jennifer Lopez we know with the glam hair…

fox

Lopez chopped off her flowing locks to get serious for this role. It’s messy. It’s single mom. It’s short. Paired with those pant suits, it needs a side note of its own.

jennifer-lopez-returns-shades-blue

 

2. Ray Liotta is the shit!

Liotta has played bad guys. He’s played tough cops. In Shades of Blue, Liotta gives new definition to the word “shady.” His stares are so intense that you would never want to cross him.  But what more do we need to say? Liotta’s presence alone guarantees twists, intensity, and very dark moments.

Shades of Blue - Season 1

 

3. The Return of Drea De Matteo

Drea De Mateo is back on TV! If you were a fan of The Sopranos, then you need to be tuning in. Drea De Matteo gives Adriana La Cerva a run for her tough money. In one scene, she literally beats the crap out of another woman for cheating on her husband. De Matteo shines in the ensemble along with the rest of the cast, and we need to see more of her in season two. Drea De Matteo is fierce, and she’s back!

Shades Of Blue - Season 1

 

4. The tunes.

You won’t hear JLo sing in this show, but you will hear music by SIA, Kanye West, and Jay-Z. That’s just the first episode.

 

5. Warren Kole

Warren Kole plays Robert Stahl, the FBI Agent who nabs Harlee Santos. Stahl wants to bring down Wozniak, and each week his character sets Twitter alight with fans reacting like this:

Stahl is someone you love to hate. Yet Stahl and Harlee have such intense chemistry that it’s hard not to ship them. Like every couple you want to hook up, you’ll experience feelings like this:

Harlee and Stahl also have scenes like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wvTuP7NHtA

 

Did we mention that Warren Kole is hot?

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6. The script.

You also have delectable lines like these:

“I always wanted to be a good cop. There’s no straight line to that.”

“Predictable defect of human nature: money almost always trumps pride.”

“Let go. Let go so I don’t have to kill you twice.”

“That loser is not her boyfriend. That’s a lapse in judgement.”

 

7. And that ensemble cast!

The supporting cast all deliver fantastic performances. Dayo Okeniyi, Michael Esper, and Lolita Davidovich all are worthy of reasons why you need to be watching, providing excellent back up to the main stars.

Shades of Blue is fierce, fantastic, and quite the ride. It leaves you breathless with twists, turns, and jaw-dropping “I never saw that coming” moments. It’s the perfectly gritty cop show.

The season one finale for Shades of Blue airs this Thursday 10pm on NBC.

HBO To Unveil ‘The Night Of’ at Tribeca in April

Buzz is high on HBO’s new miniseries The Night Of starring John Turturro

With its Show Me a Hero sure to feature heavily in the 2016 Limited Series Emmy race, here comes HBO with yet another high pedigree mini series. The network’s The Night Of will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22 in the festival’s new Tribeca Tune In series. The screening will be followed by post-screening Q&A featuring creators and stars.

The Night Of is the brainchild of writer Richard Price (Clockers, Freedomland, five episodes of The Wire) and Oscar-winner Steve Zaillian, writer of Schindler’s List and Gangs of New York. The mini series stars John Turturro (Barton Fink) and Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler). It deals with a complex New York City murder case that has significant cultural and political overtones. Following the inspiration of such true-crime hits as The Jinx, Making a Murderer and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, The Night Of will follow police investigations, the legal process, and imprisonment at Rikers Island.

The cast also includes Michael Kenneth Williams, Bill Camp, Glenne Headly, Ben Shenkman, Chip Zien, and Max Casella among others.

The Tribeca Tune In program is the festival’s response to the growing popularity of television-specific programming airing in major film festivals. Both South By Southwest and the Toronto International Film Festival have already established sections for television programming to much success. SXSW was the launch platform for HBO’s Girls thanks to its close relationship with star Lena Dunham. Check the Tribeca  Film Festival official site for a complete list of the television content showing at the festival.

The Night Of will premiere this summer on HBO. It is unlikely to air in the 2016 eligibility window as that would put it in direct competition with HBO’s own Show Me a Hero and dozens of other similarly high profile programs.

HBO Cancels ‘Togetherness’

HBO’s Duplass brothers-produced Togetherness will air its second season finale on April 10

Togetherness, HBO’s family dramedy, will not return after the current second season wraps, producer Mark Duplass confirmed today via Twitter. The series starred Mark Duplass, Steve Zissis, Melanie Lynskey, and Amanda Peet.

“Although we have decided not to proceed with another season of Togetherness, we look forward to continuing our strong creative collaboration with the talented Jay and Mark Duplass,” HBO said in a Variety-printed statement.

Variety reports the cancellation was something of a surprise. The Duplass brothers were apparently working on a third season without official confirmation. However, given the focus on HBO’s recent ratings woes with its Scorsese-produced Vinyl and rumors of production problems on Westworld, there may be some belt-tightening afoot at the network. This is, of course, before its Emmy-winning Game of Thrones returns to dominate ratings.

Togetherness recently reached only 405,000 viewers in the Nielsen’s “live plus-3” estimates. Vinyl received 908,000 and Girls saw 818,000 viewers using the same metrics. Awards attention, despite some critical acclaim, was extremely limited. The series was shut out at the 2015 Primetime Emmy awards. Only Melanie Lynskey received awards attention with a Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series bid from the 5th Critics’ Choice Television Awards.

The series will wrap its second and final season on April 10.

‘The Americans’ Enters Season Four Defying Expectations

The Americans returns with another promising season for the Emmys to all-but ignore

The Americans is a television prodigy.

The soviet-spy drama has the most consistently commendable reputation of any show in this golden era of television. It’s laudable in every way imaginable. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are impeccable as Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings. The writing is extraordinarily well-shaded with historical insight and intelligent narrative power. The directing keeps a firm, calculated control over the cynical, cold story this show is telling.

Yet it has faced an upward battle in the way it has been received. Critics have been the only essential sector of the television-watching world to be enamored by creator Joe Weisberg’s show. For a television series that receives such a boost from critics, the lack of Emmy recognition is almost implausible. (It did thankfully begin to break through the glass ceiling last year in the major categories with a nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.)

Despite an inability to deliver the most helpful ratings to the network, FX renewed the show for a fourth season, and thankfully so. The story will be able to unfold after the predictable yet life-altering conclusion from season three in the way it was imagined. The new season began with “Glanders,” which took the series off its usual dramatically raw note and nuanced storytelling style. But concerning the new season’s structure, “Glanders” did not make the resolution of season three’s cliffhanger its centerpiece. This struck me odd considering the weight of Paige revealing that her parents are spies for the Soviet Union to Pastor Tim.

After the season three finale, I thought through every possibility for how The Americans would continue since the cat was taken out of the bag. But the direction they chose to take – by not focusing on fireworks in the first two episodes – is surprising (and slightly disappointing). Instead, the premiere focused on Martha’s unresolved storyline from the second to last episode of season three. Here, she discovered her husband, “Clarke,” was not her husband but actually Phillip in disguise. (The fact that they did not reveal Martha’s concrete reaction in the season three finale was frustrating, so maybe they felt they had to overcompensate in this premiere.) As I mentioned before, “Glanders” is not The Americans performing in its usual tone. The show rarely dips into melodrama – typically maintaining an unyielding poker face – but in this premiere it unnecessarily went there. I found it regrettable that the series chose to go this route. Still, Paige’s revelation remains simmering under the surface, fodder for future drama no doubt.

In fact, Paige’s betrayal does not begin to crystalize until episode two, “Pastor Tim.” The creative team is not going for Elizabeth and Phillips’ central reaction to be one of anger, a route I assumed they would have taken but have not. Instead, The Americans is steering towards more subdued playing field of mind games. That psychological factors are drenched in the script for “Pastor Tim,” in particular with Elizabeth’s character development. Her individual storyline from last year came to a close with the death of her mother in Russia in the midst of Paige revealing she told Pastor Tim the family secret. These two events act as a collective dagger in the mother/daughter parallel relationships The Americans have used so nicely to enact part of the show’s allegory.

The overall progression of events in “Pastor Tim” will only make more sense as the season further rolls out as these first two episodes have been so deliberate and modest in their handling of Paige’s storyline. “Pastor Tim” reinstates the show’s somber flavor and earnestly improves upon the first episode. Still, The Americans is not firing as potently as it should be so far in when the Jennings’ life-threatening secret is on the line of being exposed. I was never a fan of the way “March 8, 1983” ended the exemplary third season to begin with, so there could be a problem if there is not a big payoff for it down the road for “going there” with Paige and Pastor Tim. But maybe the expectations game is tainting my view of this storyline.

“Pastor Tim” does do something memorably better than “Glanders.” Its character development builds using articulate dialogue and dense character exchanges, specifically between Elizabeth with Phillip in the opening and concluding scenes and Elizabeth with Paige both with the news of the death of Elizabeth’s mother and Paige’s confession. These deeply personal yet simple moments between the characters in impossible situations are what few shows do as well as The Americans.

The most admirable aspect of The Americans is the freedom FX allots it from deviating from delivering a commercialized product. The liberation from FX’s standards is most evident when analyzing the first season of The Americans against its second two. There is a correlation between a lack of excess violence and superfluous sexual content and The Americans‘ killer second season and near-perfect third season. When writers and directors are not held back by conventional, brain-frying material, something luminous is able to be created. That’s what happens in this show. Few shows have this privilege, so adults wanting adult television should not allow The Americans to pass by.

Though season four began more quietly than the previous season’s cliffhanger suggested it would, the groundwork is being laid for another intricate, compelling, and possibly explosive story arc.

Apple Announces App Store Reality Show

Apple’s App Store-based reality show is its second rumored TV series

Multiple outlets are reporting that Apple’s second major television initiative will be a reality/non-scripted series. The computer giant is reportedly working with Will.i.am, Ben Silverman, and Howard T. Owens to “spotlight the app economy,” according to an article originally printed in the New York Times. This joint venture marks the first officially Apple-announced series in what is rumored to be its big play against streaming giant Netflix.

Details are very scarce outside of the project’s acknowledgement. The format for distribution isn’t really even known at this point, although it can be reasonably assumed the series will be available through Apple Music. Apple recently offered an exclusive concert film of Taylor Swift’s blockbuster 1989 world tour through the new streaming service.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, announced the engagement. He told the New York Times, though, that interested parties should not read too much into the initiative, shunning speculation of Apple’s intent to take on popular streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

“This doesn’t mean that we are going into a huge amount of movie production or TV production or anything like that,” Cue told the newspaper. Still, Apple historically has never been one to tip their hand to developing projects early in their inception.

The App Store reality show was developed by Silverman, executive producer of such hit shows as Jane the Virgin, Marco Polo, and Flaked.

Previous rumors have revealed Apple’s intent to create original programming. Aside from the App Store reality series, Apple was heavily tipped to have been working with Dr. Dre on Vital Signs, an original series loosely based on Dre’s personal life.

The App Store opened for business on July 10, 2008, to immediate success on Apple’s iPhone and through iTunes. It currently boasts more than 1.5 million apps and downloads topping 100 billion. There have been hundreds of success stories, but none have been so high profile as perhaps the Flappy Bird game. The mobile game was rumored to have grossed $50,000 per day before the developer removed the game due to  its overwhelming response.

It is not known what kinds of stories Apple will be telling with its App Store reality series.

Flappy Bird expose anyone?