TV Heartbeat! Farewell Jon Stewart! Renewals for Scream! Fear the Walking Dead!

And now for the final move in the talk show shuffle! Jon Stewart does his final Daily Show this week. Amy Schumer, Denis Leary and Louis C.K. will be guests this week. His final broadcast from behind the desk will feature surprise guests for an episode that is double the normal length. So long, Jon!

Also saying farewell this week: True Detective. The real mystery this season: how did they get it so wrong? The first season was hypnotic – you just couldn’t take your eyes off of Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. This season is a definite mess and I couldn’t stick with it. The general response seems to be along the same lines as no one is talking about it. Sadness.

Amazon is posting two pilots for review on Friday. Amazon Prime members can watch and review the pilots. If the reaction is positive enough, Amazon will move forward with making them into a series. This week there are two on offer: Sneaky Pete (Giovanni Ribisi is a con man who gets out of jail and assumes the identity of his cellmate) and Casanova (Diego Luna plays the legendary lover who’s fleeing to Paris for a fresh start).

Tonight: America’s Next Top Model season premiere (The CW), A Wicked Offer debut (The CW), Mr. Robinson debut (NBC), Difficult People debut (Hulu)
Thursday: Daily Show marathon (Comedy Central), Jon Stewart’s final Daily Show (Comedy Central), Project Runway season premiere (Lifetime)
Friday: Amazon pilots for Sneaky Pete and Casanova (Amazon)
Sunday: True Detective season finale (HBO)

Health check

Last week Mike filed the Game of Thrones “at least 8 seasons” news as “cancelled” and, well, that’s not quite accurate. Game of Thrones is currently under contract for this upcoming 6th season. The announcement that HBO wants “at least 8 seasons” is actually a renewal for two (or more!) years. Definitely not a cancellation! This is actually great news that we are getting at least one more season than the planned number of books in the series. Let’s just hope that they aren’t waiting until season 8 to bring Dany out of Essos.

Something else I want to clarify: Mike described AMC’s fascinating new show Humans as taking part in a parallel universe and, well, that isn’t quite right either. It takes place in the future where technology has advanced enough that robots (called synths) are a part of our everyday lives. This show is a smart and interesting look at the moment where technology begins to surpass humanity since someone has create consciousness in a few of the synths. The show is a joint project with Channel 4 out of the UK (hence the UK setting) and the show has been a big success on both sides of the Atlantic so cheers to a second season! I recently binged this and got totally engrossed so take a peek (from the beginning!), if you haven’t started watching yet.

(Editor’s Note: From TV Line : “the just-released trailer for AMC’s upcoming sci-fi series Humans gives us a glimpse at a parallel universe where “Synths” — highly developed, artificially intelligent servants — are every family’s go-to accessory.”)

(Erica: So they didn’t quite get it right either. Are all genre shows then an alterenate reality? “An alterenate reality where a virus turns the human race into zombies” or “an alternate reality where humans with enhanced abilities fight crime wearing stylized clothing and use code names like Arrow or Flash.”)

In other news, we do have some renewals to report! AMC is sticking with organized crime and Making of the Mob is getting a second season which will switch focus to Chicago mobsters. MTV will continue to Scream for another season. I’m guessing they won’t be talking about who’s in next season until this one is done airing…

And you can’t keep the zombies down! AMC has already renewed Fear the Walking Dead even though it’s weeks away from premiering. This first season is a mere 6 episodes (like the first season for The Walking Dead), but season two will be roughly double the size.

Meanwhile, Disney has another huge musical franchise, it seems. The Descendants drew in huge numbers and the soundtrack is selling well so look for an announcement about a sequel of sorts soon!

Crystal Ball

The networks are doing their semi-annual press tour so we’re getting a ton of updates on what’s coming up!

• ABC is already thinking about the second season of Wicked City. Never heard of it?  It hasn’t debuted yet.  The network hasn’t renewed it or anything, but the show runners already have a plan for a possible second season of the show about a serial killer in 1980’s LA. each season will focus on one killer and some characters would be back for a second season. The first season stars Ed Westwick and Erika Christensen.
• AMC likes its cowboys. Hell on Wheels is ending so they’ve picked up a new Western called The West (working title) which will be the story behind some of the most famous cowboys/outlaws. Yee haw!
• HBO will have a documentary on U2 and will then air a taped recording of U2’s tour in November.
• NBC is hoping to ease on down the casting row with lots of names added to their live broadcast of The Wiz in December. Having learned that they need to cast big names to attract the viewers (Allison Williams and Christopher Walken where just not big enough last year), they have pursued Beyonce who has reported turned them down twice. Meanwhile, they have newcomer Shanice Williams (Dorothy), Queen Latifah (The Wiz), Mary J Blidge (Evillene), David Alan Grier (Cowardly Lion) and the original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, as Auntie Em.
• Sherlock’s Christmas special will air for Christmas in the UK, but no date has been set yet for the US. This modern take on Sherlock Holmes will switch to Victorian England for the Christmas special. Because they can.
• The upcoming season of Downtown Abbey is the sixth and final one, but the producers are open to re-visiting the Granthams in possible movies.
• Starz is moving forward with Havana Quartet which will star Antonio Banderas and which they hope to shoot in Cuba. (Shoot in Cuba!?!?) The series is based on a quartet of books by Cuban writer Leonardo Padura which features a frustrated writer who becomes a detective instead.
• Starz is also giving binge-lovers a treat with the third and final season of DaVinci’s Demons available for binging on the first day it debuts in October. The show will air weekly, but for those who prefer to binge, they have that option.
• Starz is providing the same option will be available for the ballet drama Flesh and Bone which starts in November. The previews for Flesh and Bone looked great, even though the promos kept mentioning Claire and anytime Starz mentions Claire, I think Outlander.

Stay tuned!

Comment below or email me at Erica@MikeTheFanboy.com
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