Podcast: Emmy’s Writers and Were the Conventions Conventional
On this week’s Water Cooler Podcast, we get a little conventional. Political conventional. The political conventions are on everyone’s mind as each party puts on their best – or hopefully their best – show to convince undecided voters and rally the party faithful. After two weeks of the 2016 Republican and Democratic conventions, we take a non-biased as possible look at each party’s multi-million dollar pep rally. We discuss who had the most consistent message for the at-home audience, whose speeches resonated more, and which late night media host scored the most points on their coverage of the convention. Then, we continue our analysis of 2016 Emmy below-the-line with the Writing categories – Comedy, Drama, Variety, and Limited Series. We take a look at who is most likely to triumph when the winners are announced in September. As always, we close with the Flash Forward of what television most excites us in the upcoming week. (Podcast)
Netflix August: The Dog Days of Streaming
August brings a slow end to the long, hot summer. In addition, the Netflix August offerings are frankly slim pickings, which brings little comfort to those who choose to be shut-ins. Most noteworthy, Baz Luhrmann’s (Moulin Rouge!) highly anticipated musical drama The Get Down finally premieres. Multiple rumors (production delays! most expensive show ever!) plagued the production, but Lurhmann’s recent appearance at TCA seemed to calm the waters slightly. The series is no doubt ambitious. It is described as “a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco — told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city and the world … forever.” What else lies in store for Netflix in August? (Netflix August)
HBO’s ‘Westworld’ Controversy at TCA
HBO held a large Westworld press screening at the Television Critics Association (TCA) on Saturday. There, TCA attendees were able to view the first two episodes of the twice-delayed futuristic Western series, based on the 1973 film written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton. The inception of the series has not been an easy one, but early looks have been dazzling. According to multiple news outlets, the presentation did not go without a Westworld controversy of its own. (Westworld)