Many television enthusiasts are excited about the upcoming fall programming. After all, we get to see who died on the Walking Dead among many other revelations. However, the new shows have a lot to brag on, and if “Frequency” lives up to the hype, it is going to rank as one of the hottest shows to appear in some time.

In a review from Lindsay Macdonald, we read that the program “is about to be the best show on The CW” and then go on to learn exactly why. The theme of the show is a bit complex, as explained in a PopSugar article:

A woman accidentally alters the present when she’s able to contact her father, who is twenty years in the past, in this reboot of the 2000 movie of the same name.

The way this show is going to work looks like this – a female detective finds that she can use an old CB radio to speak with her father. The thing is, he’s been dead for two decades. Because of her chance to talk to him as if he is in “real-time”, she warns him of his impending death. When he is able to dodge this event it, quite naturally, alters her present.

As one reviewer said, “mother nature doesn’t like it when you rearrange her furniture” and from the moment her father fails to die, the main character’s current life begins to unravel.

Described as fast paced, it is based on a 2000 feature film that starred Jim Caviezel and Dennis Quaid, and has already garnered a lot of attention from fans of that movie. Opting for a female lead is a distinct spin, and many insist that it is simply CW seeking to capitalize on the trend in strong female leads, though it is unarguably an interesting spin on a pre-existing story.

Fans of the Fox hit “Fringe” will appreciate this program for its “alternate reality” take on things. Instead of using a time travel element, “Frequency” is going to integrate the “time as river” concept, stating that any changes in the past create an alternate timeline with entirely new events – though both timelines (original and altered) may exist at once.

Confused? Don’t be, advanced reviews say that the show and its story is handled very well, and even allows room for posing ethical questions about meddling with things already done. It also integrates the father-daughter team working together to solve an unsolved case, and even brings up the issue of the “butterfly effect”!

Created by the makers of “Supernatural” and “Being Human” the show stars Peyton List, Riley Smith, Mekhi Phifer, Anthony Ruivivar, Lenny Jacobson and Devin Kelley. So, if you love yourself a good unsolved murder, a time travel story, father-daughter dynamics, and in-depth discussions about the consequences of altering the past, you will probably want to set aside the time to watch “Frequency” when it hits the airwaves on October 5, 2016.

For lovers of creepy science fiction classics like The X-Files, or location-based dramas that highlight local flavor (think of Bloodline), Stranger Things could be the summer event to catch. This miniseries features Winona Ryder as Joy, a single mother to Mike (played by Finn Wolfhard), a bullied young boy who wants to save his best friend, Will. When Mike disappears, Joy, along with the local chief of police (played by David Harbour from The Newsroom), sets out to discover what happened.

But things aren’t what they seem in the small Indiana town. Will, Mike’s doomed best friend, isn’t exactly “normal” for a child in the 1980s. Horrifying supernatural forces are at play, and it all seems to revolve around a strange little girl, played by Millie Brown from BBC’s Intruders.

Other characters in the show include Mike’s friend, Lucas (Caleb Mclaughlin), Joy’s teenage daughter, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), a funny young classmate named Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Will’s older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton). Together with Joy, the chief of police, and the mysterious girl, it sounds like Stranger Things could have its own Scooby-Doo gang in the making – if one that works with frighteningly real disappearances, rather than villains in silly masks.

The show is directed by Shawn Levy, and written by the Duffer brothers, who are co-producing along with Karl Gadjusek, Shawn Levy, and Dan Cohen. Thanks to the buzz of Winona Ryder’s casting, Stranger Things has drawn the attention of many hopeful TV critics; however, it’s the unique blend of small-town drama, supernatural horror, science fiction, mystery, and homage to 1980s classic movies, that has viewers anticipating the show.

By choosing to mix genres, and highlight more than just horror, Stranger Things may find a home in the hearts of a wide audience. The direction by Shawn Levy has made many a critic pause; his best work is Night at the Museum and The Internship, hardly the creepy vibe that most are hoping Stranger Things can nail. Additionally, the Duffer brothers are still reeling in the shadow of the largely failed Hidden from 2015.

But to help hesitant viewers look past the names behind the scenes, Netflix released promo stills of Winona Ryder’s character, Joy, in one of the creepiest shots of an upcoming release we’ve seen: dressed in a silky halter top, with a martini close at hand, Joy is lovingly looking into the eyes of a grinning puppet, her finger stroking his chin intimately. If that’s not enough to make you wonder just what is going on in Stranger Things, nothing else would.

The show will be released into eight one-hour episodes, and will air on Friday, July 15 worldwide.

Rocky Horror Remake Premieres Fall 2016

What we know so far about the film:

1. Adam Lambert is living his childhood dream:

Adam Lambert will take the role of Eddie, played by Meat Loaf in the original film.

Movie News Guide says, “Lambert has lately said that he has grown up watching the movie and had never thought in his wildest of all dreams that one day he would act in its fresh version. He continued and said, “Rocky Horror” always made him believe in the idea that one can celebrate weirdness.”
“Hallelujah, bless my soul! I love that old time rock-n-roll!,” Lambert said.

2. Lou Alder will come back… but as a co-executive producer:

UPI Entertainment reports, “Hocus Pocus and High School Musical helmer Kenny Ortega will direct, choreograph and executive produce the remake. The Rocky Horror Picture Show producer Lou Adler and The Jackal Group co-founder Gail Berman will co-executive produce.”

3. Lou Alder was originally skeptical to make the film.

Some audiences, and especially those of the original Rocky Horror fandom, are hesitant to accept a modernized version of the film, asking if it can truly capture the nature and uphold the integrity of the original film. Original producer, Lou Alder, is involved, but was originally hesitant in committing to the remake. Alder admitted to Rolling Stone, “I don’t want to do it if it’s not going to live up to the way people embraced the movie over the past 40 years,” he said. “We’re not casting an original script; in a way, we’re casting ‘Tim Curry.’ So if somebody is compared to Tim, they’re going to lose.”

4. Speaking of… Tim Curry joins as criminology narrator.

TV Line reports on a number of names from the new cast, including Tim Curry as the criminology narrator. “Curry joins previously announced cast members Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Victoria Justice (Victorious) as Janet, Ryan McCartan (Heathers: the Musical) as Brad, Adam Lambert (Glee, American Idol) as Eddie, Reeve Carney (Penny Dreadful) as Riff Raff, and Staz Nair (Game of Thrones) as Rocky.”

5. “This ain’t your grandfather’s Rocky Horror Picture Show”, says E! News.

“Laverne Cox tells me that Fox’s upcoming television remake of the cult musical will have a new look:
‘The wardrobe is not like the original,’ the Orange is the New Black star said at the Golden Globes. ‘Kenny Ortega has some ideas that I can’t talk to you about, but his vision is very fashion forward. Very ’70s. I can say that.’”

ESPN June 2016

1.

Film highlights will be BREATHTAKING:

This complex film has a variety of layers and elements leading up to some unique, pulsating highlights sure to take the audience’s breath away.

Variety reports, “O.J.: Made in America adds rich contextual layers to the case, including a dive into the history of Los Angeles race relations that played such a central role in his acquittal. Having previewed three of five chapters, there’s an abundance of highlights between the kickoff and end zone”.

2.

It will be a MASTERPIECE:

Writer-director Ezra Edelman has been given an enormous tapestry, to which he responds that he perceives the film “like a master opus—one that deals with the nexus of race, celebrity and sports, and the strange juxtaposition of a figure who prided himself on transcending color, yet ultimately relied upon it when charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole, and Ronald Goldman”—An article from Brian Lowry

3.

Critics ADORE it already:

Indie Wire reports critics “admit the film is receiving a lot of high praise”. From Brian Moylan of The Guardian: “If all of its long-form documentaries are going to be this good, it is going to be absolutely vital viewing for both fans of sports and casual viewers.”

4.

The Film will be REAL, it will be EPIC:

Don’t be fooled, this documentary takes everything to an entirely new level.

Variety article proclaims, “the film leaps back and forth among these various threads, and occasionally directly connects them, such as footage featuring Bob Hope lauding Simpson at a USC rally in ’68, intercut with the King and Kennedy assassinations that also happened that year”.

5.

It’s NOT going to be what you EXPECT:

Insights from the Sundance Music Festival say, “there is a level to which O.J., the story is about everything. It really is, in terms of our American culture. It’s about everything”.

6.

Actually, it will EXCEED expectations:

From the Los Angeles Times, “Edelman’s tale is something of a double helix, telling the origin story of a complex crossover celebrity while chronicling black-white tension in Los Angeles”.

7.

A TROJAN HORSE for Issues of Race in America?

The Los Angeles Times also makes the claim that this documentary will perhaps be a ‘Trojan horse’ for issues of race in America. “Made in America covers a lot more than the murder of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman and the sociological Rorschach test that sprung up in its wake. The miniseries uses the life of the former USC star as a means of investigating race in America–a Trojan Horse, if you will”.

8.

O.J. Simpson is NOT involved in the film:

In various interviews, Ezra Edelman has been asked about involving O.J. Simpson in the documentary, and why it wasn’t imperative to him that O.J. Simpson be involved at all. Edelman proclaims,

“To ESPN’s credit, especially with the zeitgeist and the popularity of The Jinx–type programs, it wasn’t like we were aiming to get O.J. to sit down and talk to us. It’s like, would I have loved to sit down with O.J.? Sure. But it would have been a different film. And not necessarily the film I wanted to make.”

9.

Ezra Edelman originally did NOT want to make the film:

Edelman got the offer to make this documentary in 2014 from ESPN Films’ senior vice president and executive producer Connor Schell:
“I want you to do a five-part movie on O.J. Simpson,” he was told.

“I said, ‘I don’t want to do this,’” Edelman told Business Insider. “Because I lived through this and what could I say about this that someone else hasn’t said.”

10.

Edelman’s process was the ‘perfect storm’ to produce this film.

In an interview-article, Huffington Post asks for details on Edelman’s process, “how did you start researching such an ambitious project?”
Edelman: “I didn’t come to this story with no knowledge. So as strange as this sounds, I sort of had a little bit of a framework in my mind at the start — the themes I wanted to explore. The first step for me always is just reading. And there’s no shortage of books about the trial and stuff like that. So it was, like, get all those things, figure out what are all the seminal texts that really need to be absorbed and then move forward from there.”

The documentary will be divided into a 7-part television special in June. Audiences can view the first five parts on ABC June 11th, 2016. After, the complete series will be available on ESPN on June 14th, 2016.