Netflix

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT Luke Cage's abrupt cancelation begs the question: Is the Marvel TV universe falling apart?
  Source: TheWrap

  

  Netflix's decision to cancel Luke Cage on a Friday night was shocking enough, but why do it on the same day it launched the third season of Marvel's Daredevil? "It’s been four months since the second season of Luke Cage came out," says Phil Owen. "Marvel and Netflix have had since June to make a decision about the show, but waited until this exact moment to tell everybody. They could have waited another week. They could have announced it in tandem with the Iron Fist news. Instead they chose to cancel Luke Cage not only on launch day, but at a time in the evening when many people on the East Coast were probably just settling in to watch Daredevil. And that’s not even taking into account that it took less than half that long for Iron Fist to get the axe after its second season." The reported decision that the cancelation was for creative reasons also doesn't make sense, he says, pointing out that Marvel and Netflix have had no qualms with replacing showrunners -- Daredevil and Iron Fist have had six showrunners combined. "Of course," he adds, "Disney/Marvel could just as easily be eyeing a gradual fresh start, especially since the Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been increasingly distant from the movies. Most notably, Thanos’ finger snap has had no affect on any of the shows that came out after he wiped out half the universe. It wouldn’t be impossible to simply roll out completely new versions of these characters and make like their Netflix versions don’t share the same universe." ALSO: Iron Fist star Finn Jones expresses solidarity with Luke Cage in an Instagram post.

  # TOPICS: Marvel's Luke Cage, Netflix, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Marvel's The Defenders, Disney, Marvel

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT No show has ever tackled profound grief like Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House
  Source: Vulture

  "Many shows tell stories about grief and mental illness — This Is Us, The Affair, A Million Little Things — but rarely with such an authentic gravity as The Haunting of Hill House," says Lindsey Romain. She adds: "Hill House makes great use of its setting and genre, with plenty of jump scares, ghouls, and gore to satiate horror fans. But its power is not in how thoughtfully it scares, but in how deeply it penetrates. It forces us to contend with our own buried thoughts and emotions, the family secrets that fester deep within, and it does so with an elegant and even hand, telling stories across two timelines: the Crain children’s time in Hill House, and their lives as adults, as they deal with the fallout of the psychological trauma they experienced there." ALSO: Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan explains the ending.

  # TOPICS: The Haunting Of Hill House, Netflix, Mike Flanagan

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT Streaming TV has opening weekends, too -- which Netflix has dominated
  Source: The Ringer

  "Streaming television’s sheer density has created a sort of small-screen parallel to the film industry concept of opening-weekend box office," says Alison Herman. "What’s at stake in the crucial first few days of a show’s lifespan isn’t revenue; as television executives are quick to remind us, streaming is all about the long game, investing in a show so that it will linger in the archives in perpetuity. But the overwhelming volume of Peak TV creates a now-or-never feeling of scarcity when it comes to another finite, all-important resource: audiences’ attention. It’s a more intangible competition than the hard numbers of a box office gross, yet it’s one where Netflix seems to be at a definite, possibly insurmountable advantage."

  # TOPICS: Netflix, Amazon, Binge Watching, Peak TV

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT Lucifer casts role of Amenadiel's angel sister
  Source: Deadline

  Vinessa Vidotto is boarding the Netflix drama for Season 4 as Remiel, a “classic little-sister” character who admires her eldest brother, the mighty Amenadiel.

  # TOPICS: Lucifer, Netflix, Vinessa Vidotto

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT Netflix to teach Motown to kids via the animated family series Motown Magic
  Source: USA Today

  The partially animated series will follow an eight-year-old named Ben as he bring songs from The Jackson 5, The Temptations, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and other Motown legends to life.

  # TOPICS: Netflix, Motown Magic, Kids TV, Music and TV

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT Toni Collette owns the screen on Netflix's Wanderlust
  Source: Indiewire

  Episodes of the six-part open-marriage drama from Netflix and BBC are markedly confident and finely cut -- a rarity for a Netflix series, says Ben Travers. "Equal parts empathetic and searing, creator Nick Payne treats his characters honestly and, in turn, crafts a first season both heartening and tragic," he says. "Collette is its center, guiding the ship through turbulent emotional seas with assurance. There’s plenty to admire about Wanderlust, but it easily could have drifted into the vast unknown of Netflix’s content ocean without her precise, textured turn. In one pivotal episode, she steers the vessel almost entirely by herself."

  ALSO:

  • Wanderlust adds depth to the madcap-on-the-surface “boring couple tries swinging” scenario
  • Creator Nick Payne seems to be mimicking the shallow charms of a Richard Curtis romcom
  • Wanderlust makes an admirable effort to subvert gender stereotypes

  # TOPICS: Wanderlust, BBC, Netflix, Nick Payne, Toni Collette

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT Daredevil is back to being great again in Season 3
  Source: The A.V. Club

  Season 3 finds the Marvel series getting back to basics, especially with a familiar, marginally more scaleable foe: Wilson Fisk, says Danette Chavez. "It’s a welcome reset," says Chavez, "but one that initially says more about the underwhelming quality of the show’s second season (the introduction of the Punisher notwithstanding) and the years-in-the-making Defenders showdown... As exciting as it is to watch Fisk and Daredevil circle each other again, there’s something almost conciliatory about this arrangement, despite the fact that (new showrunner Erik) Oleson and team weren’t involved in previous decisions to spend so much time on such uninspired enemies (though it is in keeping with the overall Catholic guilt theme). It’s as if they’re acknowledging previous missteps, and offering up the tried-and-true dynamic of Daredevil and Kingpin, who both know what it’s like to wear a mask."

  ALSO:

  • Season 3's epic fight scene was a tremendously impressive achievement
  • Charlie Cox describes filming the fight scene in one take
  • New showrunner Erik Oleson dissects the 11 1/2-minute fight sequence
  • Cox describes his character as being "more reckless than he’s ever been…which I think could be very interesting"

  # TOPICS: Daredevil, Netflix, Charlie Cox, Erik Oleson, Marvel

• Posted Saturday 10/20/18 at 2:43AM EDT Making a Murderer Part 2 is true-crime turned plodding since it lacks the bombshell factor
  Source: Vulture

  Making a Murderer couldn't re-create the surprises of Part 1, which was the talk of Christmas 2015. "Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos essentially concede as much in the first episode by racing through news footage that captures the flood chatter generated by season one," says Jen Chaney. "The 'Making a Murderer was a game changer' snippets are a bit self-serving, but they make it clear that this Netflix series altered the course of the Teresa Halbach murder cases, and in turn, has altered the way the filmmakers will tell this story going forward. Making a Murderer Part Two, then, isn’t so much a narrative about a working-class Wisconsin family and how two of its members were potentially framed by law enforcement for committing murder. Instead, it is a less shocking, more plodding, in-depth procedural that depicts the legal steps required to attempt to overturn (Brendan) Dassey’s conviction by proving that his police confession was coerced, while relitigating (Steve) Avery’s case altogether to prove he was wrongly jailed for the second time in his life."

  ALSO:

  • Making a Murderer has clearly learned some lessons from Season 1 with attempts to head off any potential backlash
  • As advocacy, Making a Murderer has achieved the exact opposite of its mission
  • Brendan Dassey is able to watch his favorite show, Lethal Weapon, behind bars
  • Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos wanted Part 2 to explore the "black hole" of the post-conviction phase of the criminal justice process

  # TOPICS: Making a Murderer Part 2, Netflix, Making a Murderer, Brendan Dassey, Laura Ricciardi, Moira Demos, Steve Avery, Documentaries

• Posted Friday 10/19/18 at 11:31PM EDT Netflix cancels Luke Cage after two seasons
  Source: Deadline

  

  One week after pulling the plug on Marvel's Iron Fist via a Friday Night news dump, Netflix has decided to do the same for Marvel's Luke Cage. "Unfortunately, Marvel’s Luke Cage will not return for a third season,” Netflix and Marvel said in a statement Friday night. “Everyone at Marvel Television and Netflix is grateful to the dedicated showrunner, writers, cast and crew who brought Harlem’s Hero to life for the past two seasons, and to all the fans who have supported the series.” Deadline reports the cancelation came as a surprise. "A writer’s room under showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker had been working for awhile, producing scripts, with a formal Season 3 order considered almost a foregone conclusion," reports Deadline's Dominic Patten and Nellie Andreeva. "The pink slipping of the Mike Colter-led series was ultimately a combo of the age old creative differences and the inability for the parties involved to reach a deal, according to sources." They report that Netflix wasn't impressed with the Season 3 scripts and there was disagreement on Luke Cage's creative direction and potential personnel changes. Luke Cage's cancelation leaves just three Marvel shows on Netflix's roster: Jessica Jones, The Punisher and Daredevil, which returned today for Season 3. ALSO: Luke Cage fans react to cancelation.

  # TOPICS: Marvel's Luke Cage, Netflix, Iron Fist, Cheo Hodari Coker, Mike Colter, Cancellations, Renewals & Pickups, Marvel

• Posted Friday 10/19/18 at 6:10PM EDT Matthew Broderick boards three shows: The Conners, Better Things and Daybreak
  Source: Deadline

  

  The two-time Tony winner, coming off of playing Captain "Sully" Sullenberger on a Jimmy Kimmel Live! musical, has landed on three different shows, including his first regular TV series starring role. He'll romance Aunt Jackie on The Conners, in a recurring role that starts with the Halloween episode. He'll play a counselor on Season 3 of Pamela Adlon's Better Things. And he'll star on Daybreak, Netflix's upcoming high school apocalypse dramedy. The Ferries Bueller's Day Off star is returning to high school, playing the cheerful, upbeat principal in his first TV series regular role. According to Deadline, Broderick's "Principal Burr knows the name of every kid in school and their favorite character to play in Overwatch. In a hashtag-filled world of #metoo and #blacklivesmatter and #timesup, Burr is genuinely trying to be part of the solution: a good guy, an advocate and ally for all. But let’s face it, kids can be monsters."

  # TOPICS: Matthew Broderick, ABC, FX, Netflix, Better Things, The Conners, Daybreak, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

• Posted Friday 10/19/18 at 2:36AM EDT Netflix cancels Rev. Run comedy All About The Washingtons after one season
  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  The multicamera comedy starring Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons and his wife Justine Simmons has become one of the rare one-and-done Netflix shows two months after its premiere. ABC originally developed All About the Washingtons two years ago but ultimately passed on making a pilot.

  # TOPICS: All About The Washingtons, Netflix, Justine Simmons, Rev Run, Cancellations, Renewals & Pickups

• Posted Thursday 10/18/18 at 5:51PM EDT Robin Wright: House of Cards' "beautifully macabre" ending will "shock the sh*t out of you"
  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  

  Wright described the ending to the Netflix series as "moving and generous and so macabre and so dark" last night during a Hollywood Reporter panel with co-star Michael Kelly. "The show is about the battle for position of power, all the way around. So, who wins?" she added. "And I will say that it’s so beautifully macabre. It’s really beautiful." Kelly added, "What she’s saying is it’s very House of Cards." To which Wright replied, "It’s so House of Cards. It’s going to shock the sh*t out of you, basically." Meanwhile, co-showrunner Melissa James Gibson said House of Cards won't play coy with Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood. "It would have been a big mistake to in any way pretend that the character didn’t exist or to erase the character somehow," she said of killing off his character. "Our way forward — the way we figured out the way forward — was basically to dig into the DNA of the show and honor the seeds of it and figure out what made sense as the next step."

  # TOPICS: House of Cards, Netflix, Kevin Spacey, Melissa James Gibson, Michael Kelly, Robin Wright

• Posted Thursday 10/18/18 at 5:51PM EDT Designated Survivor adds Anthony Edwards and Julie White
  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  The former ER star and the Go On alum will recur in Season 3 when the former ABC drama moves to Netflix. Edwards, who worked with Designated Survivor showrunner Neal Baer on ER, will play the new chief of staff, while White will play the president's campaign manager in his reelection campaign.

  # TOPICS: Designated Survivor, Netflix, Anthony Edwards, Julie White

• Posted Thursday 10/18/18 at 5:51PM EDT Candace Cameron Bure doesn't expect Fuller House to be canceled after Season 4
  Source: E! Online

  "I have no doubt that we're going to be back for season five," she said, responding to a question about a TVLine report that the Full House spinoff might end after the upcoming season. "I don't know why or how that rumor got started," Bure told E! News. "I think it was a slow news day and someone wanted to make more of it than it is,"

  # TOPICS: Fuller House, Netflix, Candace Cameron Bure

• Posted Thursday 10/18/18 at 1:36PM EDT Netflix unveils Narcos: Mexico's official trailer, featuring a more upbeat tone
  Source: Entertainment Weekly

  Diego Luna and Michael Peña star in the Season 4 reboot of the Narcos series that feels a lot different from the dead-sober mood of the previous three seasons.

  # TOPICS: Narcos, Netflix, Trailers & Teasers

Luke Cage's abrupt cancelation begs the question: Is the Marvel TV universe falling apart?

Netflix cancels Luke Cage after two seasons

Matthew Broderick boards three shows: The Conners, Better Things and Daybreak

ABC picks up Station 19 for a full season

Rihanna reportedly turned down Super Bowl halftime show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick

Robin Wright: House of Cards' "beautifully macabre" ending will "shock the sh*t out of you"