The writers continue to put Bobby through the emotional wringer with ABC’s 9-1-1 season seven episode nine. “Ashes, Ashes” will air on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 8pm ET/PT.
Season seven stars Angela Bassett as Athena Grant, Peter Krause as Bobby Nash, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Maddie Buckley, and Oliver Stark as Evan “Buck” Buckley. Kenneth Choi plays Howie “Chimney” Han, Aisha Hinds is Henrietta “Hen” Wilson, Ryan Guzman is Eddie Diaz, and Gavin McHugh is Christopher Diaz. Lou Ferrigno Jr guest stars as Tommy Kinard.
“Ashes, Ashes” Plot: The 118 and Tommy are presented with the Medal of Valor for their work on the cruise ship rescue. Meanwhile, Hen and Karen encounter an unforeseen hurdle in their foster care journey, while Eddie’s emotional affair develops further.
Peter Krause and Angela Bassett in ‘9-1-1’ season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Mike Taing)
9-1-1 Description, Courtesy of ABC:
The series explores the high-pressure experiences of first responders — including police officers, firefighters, and dispatchers — who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking, and heart-stopping situations. These emergency responders must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in their own lives. The show draws from real-life, high-pressure experiences of first responders who regularly face heart-stopping situations that are often unpredictable, intense, and uplifting at the same time.
Ryan Guzman, Aisha Hinds, Oliver Stark, Kenneth Choi, Lou Ferrigno Jr, and Peter Krause in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Mike Taing)Peter Krause, Aisha Hinds and Kenneth Choi in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Chris Willard)Kenneth Choi, Ryan Guzman, Anirudh Pisharody, Peter Krause, and Oliver Stark in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Chris Willard) Devin Kelley and Ryan Guzman in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Chris Willard)Ryan Guzman, Anirudh Pisharody, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, and Aisha Hinds in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Mike Taing)Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Mike Taing)
Paramount+’s summer 2024 lineup includes the new documentary seriesChopper Cops, premiering on June 18th. The docuseries focuses on a police team of helicopter pilots who help out in missing persons searches and assist officers on the ground in police chases and tracking suspects.
“If you want to know fear, and if you want to know whether these brave cops are going to come home at night, you’re about to see it in Chopper Cops,” says Marion County Sheriff Woods. “To us, failure is never an option.”
The 10-episode season is executive produced by W. Hulsey Smith, David Karabinas, Brad Bernstein, Rick Cikowski, James Macnab, Chip Rives, Olive Chinarian Smith, Susan Zirinsky, and Terence Wrong. The docuseries is produced by See It Now Studios and V1 Productions.
Poster for ‘Chopper Cops’ (Photo credit: Paramount+)
Paramount+ offered this lengthy synopsis of the new summer series:
“They’re just north of Disney World, but to the men and women of the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, the 1,600 square-mile area they patrol is no fantasy. Marion County’s highways, forests and suburban neighborhoods are crime scenes to more than 7,000 felonies a year. But with a jurisdiction larger than the state of Rhode Island, ground units find it impossible to have eyes everywhere.
With 10 half-hour episodes, Chopper Cops showcases Marion County Sheriff’s Department’s secret weapon: state-of-the-art helicopters manned by elite police pilots. Known as Air One, these chopper cops, who operate 24 hours a day and seven days a week, are equipped with high-tech infrared cameras and augmented-reality mapping capabilities that allow police on the ground to see in the dark and locate the bad guys. As Sheriff Billy Woods’ ‘eye in the sky,’ they detect where perpetrators are running and hiding and whether they’re armed; they essentially guide the SWAT team with vital, instantaneous information that could separate life from death.
Air One’s heart-pounding stories are brought to vivid life through in-chopper cameras, radio transmissions and gripping first-person interviews with law enforcement. The series also includes high-octane footage of the elite team’s response to an officer being shot and the efforts to arrest the suspected shooter.”
It’s super short and it’s mostly just his back and hair, but Netflix’s The Witcher season four teaser serves as our first look at Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia. The video features Geralt and his horse, and it’s not until the very end that Geralt turns sideways and looks into the camera.
If you’re willing to give Liam Hemsworth a chance, then do yourself a favor and don’t read the YouTube comments. Suffice it to say, fans aren’t happy to have Hemsworth take over the role from Henry Cavill.
“After the shocking, Continent-altering events that close out season three, the new season follows Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri who are faced with traversing the war-ravaged Continent and its many demons apart from each other,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “If they can embrace and lead the groups of misfits they find themselves in, they have a chance of surviving the baptism of fire and finding one another again.”
Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia in ‘The Witcher’ season 4 (Photo Credit: Netflix)
In addition to Hemsworth, season four stars Anya Chalotra as Yennefer of Vengerberg, Freya Allan as Princess Cirilla of Cintra, Joey Batey as Jaskier, Laurence Fishburne as Regis, and Eamon Farren as Cahir. Anna Shaffer plays Triss Merigold, Mimî M Khayisa is Fringilla, Cassie Clare is Philippa, Mahesh Jadu is Vilgefortz, and Meng’er Zhang is Milva.
Graham McTavish plays Dijkstra, Royce Pierreson is Istredd, Mecia Simson is Francesca, Sharlto Copley is Leo Bonhart, Danny Woodburn is Zoltan, and Jeremy Crawford is Yarpen. The ensemble also includes Bart Edwards as Emhyr, Hugh Skinner as Radovid, James Purefoy as Skellen, Christelle Elwin as Mistle, Fabian McCallum as Kayleigh, Juliette Alexandra as Reef, and Ben Radcliffe as Giselher. Rounding out the cast are Connor Crawford as Asse, Aggy K. Adams as Iskra, Linden Porco as Percival Schuttenbach, Therica Wilson-Read as Sabrina, Rochelle Rose as Margarita, and Safiyya Ingar as Keira.
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich created The Witcher series and serves as executive producer, showrunner, and writer. Additional writers include Tania Lotia, Rae Benjamin, Troy Dangerfield, Matthew D’Ambrosio, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Clare Higgins, and Mike Ostrowski.
Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Tricia Brock, Alex Garcia Lopez, and Jeremy Webb direct episode season four episodes.
Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal leads the cast of Apple TV+’s new thriller Presumed Innocent, based on Scott Turow’s bestselling novel. The streamer’s official trailer sets up Gyllenhaal as a prosecutor who finds himself needing a good lawyer of his own after he’s implicated in a brutal murder.
The limited series also stars Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, O-T Fagbenle, Chase Infiniti, Elizabeth Marvel, Nana Mensah, Renate Reinsve, and Kingston Rumi Southwick. Gyllenhaal’s real-life brother-in-law Peter Sarsgaard also stars in the legal thriller.
“The gripping series takes viewers on a journey through the horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney’s office when one of its own is suspected of a crime,” reads Apple TV+’s synopsis. “The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”
Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Presumed Innocent’ (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)
The drama comes from Emmy Award-winners David E. Kelley and J.J. Abrams, with both executive producing and Kelley serving as showrunner. Gyllenhaal, Matthew Tinker, Dustin Thomason, and Sharr White also executive produce. Author Scott Turow and Miki Johnson are co-executive producers. Presumed Innocent comes from Bad Robot Productions and David E. Kelley Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Executive producer Anne Sewitsky directs episodes one, two, and eight. Executive producer Greg Yaitanes directs episodes three through seven.
The eight-part limited series premieres on June 12, 2024 with the release of the first two episodes. New episodes stream on Wednesdays.
O-T Fagbenle and Peter Sarsgaard in the limited series (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel in episode 2 (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)ake Gyllenhaal, Ruth Negga, Chase Infiniti and Kingston Rumi Southwick in episode 1 (Photo Credit: Apple TV+)Apple TV+’s ‘Presumed Innocent’ poster
Kurt Sutter’s (Sons of Anarchy) new action drama The Abandons has officially begun production in Calgary. Sutter created the drama and serves as showrunner and executive producer.
“I am fascinated by the metamorphosis of good into evil. What must transpire to drive the morally sound to become the dangerously corrupt,” explained Sutter. “The Abandons explores those complex compromises through the most powerful human instinct — the love and protection of mothers.”
The drama’s set in the West and stars Lena Headey, Gillian Anderson, Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Natalia del Riego, Lucas Till, and Aisling Franciosi. Toby Hemingway, Michael Greyeyes, Katelyn Wells, Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Brían F. O’Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Patton Oswalt, and Michael Ornstein also star.
The season one ensemble also includes Jonathan Koensgen, Jack Doolan, Michiel Huisman, Haig Sutherland, and Sarah White. Sons of Anarchy fan favorite Ryan Hurst and Mayans M.C.‘s Clayton Cardenas also star.
“As a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law. The Abandons will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.”
In addition to Kurt Sutter, season one is executive produced by Stephen Surjik, Otto Bathurst, Emmy Grinwis, and Jon Paré.
A massive fire threatens the city of Seattle in part one of ABC’s Station 19 two-part season/series finale. Season seven episode nine, “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” airs on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 10pm ET/PT.
Season seven stars Jaina Lee Ortiz as Andy Herrera, Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren, Grey Damon as Jack Gibson, Barrett Doss as Victoria Hughes, Jay Hayden as Travis Montgomery, and Danielle Savre as Maya Bishop. Boris Kodjoe plays Robert Sullivan, Stefania Spampinato is Dr. Carina DeLuca, Josh Randall is Sean Beckett, Merle Dandridge is Natasha Ross, and Carlos Miranda is Theo Ruiz.
“How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” Plot: When a wildfire threatens Seattle, the crew must jump into action to save their city. Meanwhile, as the station undergoes changes, Andy contemplates the future.
Jay Hayden and Barrett Doss in ‘Station 19’ season 7 episode 9 (Disney/James Clark)
Station 19 Description, Courtesy of ABC:
Station 19 follows a group of heroic Seattle firefighters as they put their lives and hearts on the line. From the executive producers of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder, the series takes us inside the tough, tight-knit and sometimes heartbreaking world of the city’s bravest first responders.
Jaina Lee Ortiz and Danielle Savre in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Eric McCandless)Danielle Savre, Jason Winston George, Jay Hayden, Josh Randall, and Boris Kodjoe in season 7 episode 9, (Disney/Eric McCandless)Barrett Doss and Jay Hayden in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/Eric McCandless)Jaina Lee Ortiz, Jason Winston George, Barrett Doss, Jay Hayden, and Danielle Savre in seaosn 7 episode 9 (Disney/James Clark)Merle Dandridge, Jaina Lee Ortiz, and Danielle Savre in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/James Clark)Jason Winston George, Barrett Doss, and Jaina Lee Ortiz in season 7 episode 9 (Disney/James Clark)
When writer/director George Miller dove back into the Mad Max universe in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road, it was clear to fans that Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa was the real star of the movie. It was clear to Miller as well, and now he’s given the character her own movie with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is an origin story for Furiosa (played here by Sting’s Alyla Browne as a youngster and by The Witch’s Anya Taylor-Joy when she’s a bit older). The film covers the heroine’s kidnapping from her family in The Green Place by a band of motorcycle bandits led by a thug named Dementus (Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, albeit with a laughable prosthetic nose), as well as her being brought to the fortress of The Citadel to become a servant of Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme from Three Thousand Years of Longing). As Dementus gains power in the wasteland, Furiosa finds herself caught up in the politics between the three fortresses. But she never forgets how Dementus took her from her home, and over the years, she seeks her revenge.
While Fury Road is basically one big (awesome) chase scene, Miller and co-writer Nick Lathouris (who also co-wrote Fury Road) expand upon the Mad Max universe while simultaneously providing a satisfying backstory in Furiosa: A Mad Max Story. Not that the Fury Road chase scene approach was bad (it absolutely was not), but there is much more of a plot to Furiosa. Of course, there are exciting and energetic chase scenes in the movie, but the story comes up for air a little more often so that Furiosa gets a Hero’s Journey type of a story rather than a simple adrenaline-filled action-fest.
This does not mean that there is no adrenaline-filled action in Furiosa. Miller is a notorious stickler for detail, especially with action scenes and stunt performances, and the action sequences in the movie are incredible. Instead of the supercross jumpers and cirque-de-soleil pole acrobats in Fury Road, Furiosa has paragliding attackers and ziplining War Boys.
And a ton of wrecked vehicles. Probably more than a ton.
Just about everything in the movie crashes and explodes, and it is all captured by an amazing camera team led by cinematographer Simon Duggan (Warcraft, Killer Elite) and set to a pumping score by Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL, who also scored Fury Road along with the new Godzilla movies). The effects do look a little more CG-oriented than those in Fury Road, but it just seems that the technology was used to make the big explosions even bigger.
And speaking of the vehicles – the vehicles are a huge part of the fun of the Mad Max universe, and Furiosa does not disappoint there. Of course, there’s a War Rig (and it’s more spectacular than the one in Fury Road). But there’s also a six-wheeled monster truck, a three-motorcycle-pulled chariot, and a dirt bike built with a mannequin on the handlebars. Post-apocalyptic transportation at its finest.
But enough about the high-octane stunt work. Furiosa opens up the world that Miller embraced in Fury Road, giving the audience a glimpse of the power struggles that dominate the dystopian wasteland. It would have been easy for Miller to make Furiosa a feminist anthem, and he partially does, but what Miller does even more is use the Furiosa character and her tribulations to emphasize the patriarchal society that rules this vision of the future.
Furiosa’s quest for revenge is empowering, though. She’s easily as ruthless and cunning as any male, and what she may lack in physical strength she more than makes up for with speed, agility, intelligence, and heart. And she’s got the drive and will to carry out her mission. She’s an unstoppable force. So, while Furiosa may not really be a Girl Power movie, there’s plenty of Girl Power in it.
And Furiosa does answer the biggest question of all from Fury Road. It shows how Furiosa lost her arm.
Fans know what to expect from a Mad Max movie, and George Miller knows what to give them. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is worthy of its name. It’s a Mad Max movie that is not about Max. And it further proves what audiences learned with Mad Max: Fury Road – that Furiosa is an interesting enough character to anchor her own movie. This is the future of the Mad Max universe.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: R for sequences of strong violence and grisly images
Running Time: 2 hours 28 minutes
Release Date: May 24, 2024
Studio: Warner Bros Pictures
Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake in season 1 of ‘Starfleet Academy’ (Photo Credit: Nino Munoz/Paramount+)
Oscar-winner Holly Hunter is set to star as a captain and Academy chancellor in Paramount+’s new Star Trek series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Filming is expected to begin this summer with Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau serving as co-showrunners and executive producers.
“It feels like we’ve spent our entire lives watching Holly Hunter be a stone-cold genius,” said Kurtzman and Landau. “To have her extraordinary authenticity, fearlessness, sense of humor, and across-the-board brilliance leading the charge on Starfleet Academy is a gift to all of us, and to the enduring legacy of Star Trek.”
Additional executive producers include Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Onsunsamni, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, and John Weber. Violo wrote the series premiere. The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.
“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism,” reads Paramount+’s synopsis. “Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves, and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”
Paramount+’s roster of Star Trek programs includes the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the original movie Star Trek: Section 31.
Holly Hunter has been nominated for four Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for her performance in The Piano. Hunter’s recent credits include Mr. Mayor, Succession, The Comey Rule, Incredibles 2, and Here and Now.
AMC’s Interview with the Vampire season two episode three officially introduces Nicolas de Lenfent from The Vampire Lestat to the series. The episode, titled “No Pain,” fills in more of Lestat’s backstory. Episode three airs on Sunday, May 26, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT.
The season two cast is led by Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac, Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy, and Assad Zaman as Armand. Sam Reid stars as Lestat de Lioncourt, Ben Daniels is Santiago, and Delainey Hayles takes over the role of Claudia.
“No Pain” Plot: Armand tells the history of the Theatre des Vampires. Louis tells of his reluctance to join.
Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt and Joseph Potter as Nicolas in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ season 2 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Larry Horricks/AMC)
Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Plot, Courtesy of AMC:
The interview continues in season two. In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Anderson) recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Bogosian). Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Reid), Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, with Claudia.
It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand (Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.
Jacob Anderson as Louis De Point Du Lac and Assad Zaman as Armand in season 2 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Larry Horricks/AMC)Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt in season 2 episode 3 (Photo Credit: AMC)Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt in season 2 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Larry Horricks/AMC)Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt in season 2 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Larry Horricks/AMC)Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt in season 2 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Larry Horricks/AMC)
Harry Lawtey and Kit Harington in ‘Industry’ season 3 (Photograph by Nick Strasburg/HBO)
HBO released the first batch of photos from the upcoming third season of Industry, the network’s critically acclaimed drama. In addition, HBO announced season three will premiere on August 11, 2024. New episodes of the eight-episode season will arrive on Sundays at 9pm ET/PT.
Season three stars Myha’la, Marisa Abela, Harry Lawtey, Ken Leung, Conor MacNeill, Sagar Radia, and Indy Lewis. Adam Levy, Sarah Parish, Trevor White, Elena Saurel, and Irfan Shamji also reprise their roles.
Newcomers include Kit Harington as Sir Henry Muck, Sarah Goldberg as Petra Koenig, Miriam Petche as Sweetpea Golightly, Andrew Havill as Lord Norton, and Roger Barclay as Otto Mostyn. Fady Elsayed plays Ali El Mansour and Fiona Button is Denise Oldroyd.
Marisa Abela and Harry Lawtey in season 3 (Photograph by Simon Ridgway/HBO)
“Industry gives an insider’s view of the blackbox of high finance following a group of young bankers as they forge their identities within the pressure cooker environment and sex and drug-fueled blitz of international bank Pierpoint & Co’s London office,” reads HBO’s synopsis. “In season three, as Pierpoint looks to the future and takes a big bet on ethical investing, Yasmin (Abela), Robert (Lawtey), and Eric (Leung) find themselves front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi, a green tech energy company led by Henry Muck (Harington), in a story that runs all the way to the very top of finance, media, and government. Since leaving Pierpoint, Harper (Myha’la) is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig (Goldberg).”
Mickey Down and Konrad Kay created the series and serve as writers and executive producers. Down and Kay also direct along with Isabella Eklöf and Zoé Wittock. Additional executive producers include BBC’s Rebecca Ferguson and Bad Wolf Productions’ Jane Tranter, Kate Crowther, and Ryan Rasmussen.
