The PBS movie King Charles III will debut on May 14 at 9 PM.
The hit Broadway show has been adopted for TV with Tim Pigott-Smith (Downton Abbey and The Hour) reprises his role of Prince Charles, who has waited his entire life to ascend to the British throne. But after the Queen’s death, he immediately finds himself wrestling his conscience over a bill to sign into law.
With the future of the monarchy under threat, protests on the streets, and his family in disarray, Charles must grapple with his own identity and purpose, to decide whether, in the twenty-first century, the British crown still has any real power.
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
7 PM: The Color of Rain movie on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries How to Marry a Millionaire (classic) movie on TCMNCIS on USA Network NCIS on USA Network
8 PM: Arrow on The CW (NEW) Shots Fired on FOX (NEW) Blindspot on NBC (NEW) Sully movie on HBO NCIS on USA Network
9 PM: The 100 on The CW (NEW) Catch and Release movie on CMT The Russell Girl movie on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Bridge of Spies movie on Showtime NCIS on USA Network
10 PM: Designated Survivor on ABC (NEW) Underground on WGN America (NEW – Finale) I Am Number Four movie on Showtime 2 NCIS on USA Network
Just last week FOX announced that it had cancelled the new drama Pitch after just one season. As the start of the baseball season is heating up, it feels wrong – on a personal level – to cancel the drama that made a professional baseball team into a real group of people seems ill-timed.
Actually, the whole way in which Pitch was marketed didn’t do the show justice. Of course, FOX was able to put the show on right as Major League Baseball’s Post-Season occurred, but in having the show on while there was plenty of compelling baseball on in real life made it awkward.
As a fan, would I want to watch fictional baseball with a female in the game or would I want to watch the games that count and matter for ten teams down to two teams?
For me, as a female fan, I wanted to root for Ginny and watch her team do well, and even though I did, there were parts of her narrative that probably did it few favors.
Setting Ginny’s rise to the Majors with a team that has only been in two World Series (and who have never won) along with the team being a smaller market make it hard for general baseball fans to want to root for The Padres. Amongst fans in southern California, the Padres aren’t even the popular team (except around San Diego), whereas a team like The Cubs, The Yankees or even The Braves could have drawn more fans.
Regardless of the fanbase of the team depicted in the show, the show had a difficult job of trying to tread the line between being too much about baseball and too much about Ginny’s personal life and the difficulties of being a woman in baseball.
For all the aspects of the show that didn’t succeed this year, there are still plenty of fans of the show around. As another friend (or was it a friend of a friend), I’d love to see more Pitch – especially on MLB Network.
As we edge closer to the end of the 2016-2017 TV season, the primetime dramas are getting prepared for their big season finales, and last night’s programming included two penultimate episodes.
Here is how those Monday night dramas fared in the overall ratings:
8 PM Shows: Gotham (FOX) [NEW] – 2.9 million Supergirl (The CW) [NEW] – 1.9 million
9 PM Shows: Lucifer (FOX) [NEW] – 3.3 million Jane the Virgin (The CW) [NEW] – 984,000 viewers
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
6:15 PM: Coyote Ugly movie on Cinemax Point Break (original) movie on SundanceTV
7 PM: Pretty Little Liars on Freeform (Reair) Blackhat movie on FX Love’s Enduring Legacy movie on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries NCIS on USA Network
8 PM: NCIS on CBS (NEW) The Flash on The CW (NEW) Pretty Little Liars on Freeform (NEW) Titanic movie on CMT
9 PM: Bull on CBS (NEW) Prison Break on FOX (NEW) Genius on National Geographic (NEW) Rebel on BET (Reair) Love’s Unfolding Dream movie on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
9:02 PM: Famous in Love on Freeform (NEW)
10 PM: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC (NEW) NCIS: New Orleans on CBS (NEW) Rebel on BET (NEW)
On May 12, the new Netflix streaming series Anne will air online.
Anne is a coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and many challenges, fights for love and acceptance and her place in the world. Set in Prince Edward Island in the late 1890s, the series centers on Anne Shirley (Amybeth McNulty), a young orphaned girl who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an aging sister and brother.
Over time, 13-year-old Anne will transform the lives of Marilla (Geraldine James) and Matthew Cuthbert (R.H. Thomson) and eventually the entire small town in which they live with her unique spirit, fierce intellect and brilliant imagination. Anne’s adventures will reflect timeless and topical issues including themes of identity, feminism, bullying and prejudice.
Here is a list of programming options to expect on TV this coming week:
On May 8, the season finale of Criminal Minds will air at 9 PM on CBS while that same night Underground will air it season finale on WGN America at 10 PM.
Chicago Med will air its season finale on NBC on May 11 at 9 PM while the season finale of Riverdale will air that same night on The CW at 9 PM; and The Catch will air its season finale on ABC that night too at 10 PM.
On May 12, the new Netflix streaming series Anne will air online. Anne is a coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and many challenges, fights for love and acceptance and her place in the world. Set in Prince Edward Island in the late 1890s, the series centers on Anne Shirley (Amybeth McNulty), a young orphaned girl who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an aging sister and brother.
Also on May 12, the season finale of Hawaii Five-0 will air on CBS at 9 PM.
And, a lot of programming airs on May 14, including the following:
* The season finale of NCIS: Los Angeles will air on CBS at 8 PM
* The Once Upon a Time special “The Final Battle Begins” will air on ABC at 7 PM followed by the show’s two-hour season finale at 8 PM
* The season finale of Chicago Justice will air on NBC at 9 PM
* The two-hour season finale of Guerrilla will air on Showtime at 9 PM
* The PBS movie King Charles III will debut at 9 PM, based on the hit Broadway show with Tim Pigott-Smith (Downton Abbey and The Hour) reprises his role of Prince Charles.
Hap and Leonard has been given a third season order by SundanceTV. (The Hollywood Reporter)
FOX has officially canceled the baseball-themed drama Pitch after only one season. (Variety)
Hulu has given The Handmaid’s Tale a second season renewal. (Variety)
Emerald City has been official canceled by NBC after only one season. (Variety)
Netflix has given a second season renewal to the streaming series 13 Reasons Why. (Variety)
EARLY UPFRONT ANNOUNCEMENTS
NBC has given season orders to the network’s first two 2017-2018 pilots: For God and Country and Rise. For God and Country will look into the complex world of the country’s bravest military heroes who make personal sacrifices while executing the most challenging and dangerous missions behind enemy lines. The cast includes Anne Heche (Men in Trees and Aftermath), Demetrius Grosse (Justified and Game of Silence), Mike Vogel (Under the Dome) and Tate Ellington (Quantico). Rise is inspired by the true story of high school drama teacher Lou Volpe, centering around the incredible students who come alive under a passionate teacher and family man whose dedication to the program galvanizes the entire town, starring Auli’i Cravalho (the voice of Moana), Rosie Perez and Marley Shelton (The Lottery). (Variety)
CASTING NEWS
Actor Will Chase (Nashville and Smash) will be joining the cast of the second season of the Netflix streaming series Stranger Things. He will play Neil Mayfield, the father of a family of recent transplants to Hawkins Indiana from California. The series is slated to return on October 31. (TV Line)
DETAILS ON NEW DRAMAS
Syfy has picked-up the paranormal action series Ghost Wars for a 13-episode debut season that will be set in a remote Alaskan town that has been overrun by paranormal forces, focusing on local outcast Roman Mercer (Avan Jogia from Twisted and the mini-series Tut) who must overcome the town’s prejudices and his own personal demons if he’s to harness his repressed psychic powers and save everyone from the mass haunting that’s threatening to destroy them all. The cast will include Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil), Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy) and Kristin Lehman (Motive). The show will debut later this year. (Deadline)
Hulu has picked up two drama series: Marvel’s Runaways and The First. Runaways tells the story of six diverse teenagers who can barely stand one another, but must unite against a common foe: their parents. The First explores the challenges of taking the first steps toward interplanetary colonization in the near future. The series will go into production later this year for a premiere on Hulu in 2018. (Deadline)
Actress Kristin Kreuk (Smallville and Beauty And the Beast) will star in the untitled small-town legal drama that will debut on the Canadian Broadcasting Company (and will perhaps air here in the States) that centers on Joanne, a fast-rising attorney who leaves her fancy big-city corporate job to tackle a controversial case in her hometown; and she ends up staying put. (TV Line)
MINI-SERIES NEWS
PBS will adapt the classic Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women into a three-part mini-series. (TV Line)
Starz will air a four-hour mini-series small-screen adaptation of the classic E.M. Forster novel Howards End sometime next year, starring Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) and Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street). (TV Line)
Rueben's Ramblings 
Pitch: Gone Too Soon
Posted in Commentary, News, Television on May 10, 2017| 2 Comments »
Just last week FOX announced that it had cancelled the new drama Pitch after just one season. As the start of the baseball season is heating up, it feels wrong – on a personal level – to cancel the drama that made a professional baseball team into a real group of people seems ill-timed.
Actually, the whole way in which Pitch was marketed didn’t do the show justice. Of course, FOX was able to put the show on right as Major League Baseball’s Post-Season occurred, but in having the show on while there was plenty of compelling baseball on in real life made it awkward.
As a fan, would I want to watch fictional baseball with a female in the game or would I want to watch the games that count and matter for ten teams down to two teams?
For me, as a female fan, I wanted to root for Ginny and watch her team do well, and even though I did, there were parts of her narrative that probably did it few favors.
Setting Ginny’s rise to the Majors with a team that has only been in two World Series (and who have never won) along with the team being a smaller market make it hard for general baseball fans to want to root for The Padres. Amongst fans in southern California, the Padres aren’t even the popular team (except around San Diego), whereas a team like The Cubs, The Yankees or even The Braves could have drawn more fans.
Regardless of the fanbase of the team depicted in the show, the show had a difficult job of trying to tread the line between being too much about baseball and too much about Ginny’s personal life and the difficulties of being a woman in baseball.
For all the aspects of the show that didn’t succeed this year, there are still plenty of fans of the show around. As another friend (or was it a friend of a friend), I’d love to see more Pitch – especially on MLB Network.
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