Teevee
+ OpenTV’s critically acclaimed web series Brown Girls has caught the attention of HBO. (Also probably the stunning box office numbers for Get Out and Hidden Figures and the huge awards season success of Moonlight have caught the attention of HBO.) Fatimah Asghar and Samantha Bailey are developing their series for a full season of big time TV!
+ Hey, here’s this new thing called The Bisexual Representation Awards! There are five categories and you can vote in all of them. It’s like the People’s Choice Awards specifically for bi folks.
+ Orphan Black is back this weekend. (Look for Valerie Anne’s recaps on Mondays.) One of the main ways the show has been promoting its final season is character clips on YouTube and Twitter. For example, this one where Cosima and Delphine are crawling all over each other like a pair of adorable Slytherin kittens.
+ Thanks to Trump, Broad City says it’s new season is going to be darker than ever, but mostly it just seems more glorious than ever. Here’s the trailer for season four. There’s a sneaky peek of Wanda Sykes in here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zlkhuHNmK4
+ I am very sad to report that both Underground and Sense8 have been cancelled. However, a Change.org petition calling for a third season of Sense8 already has almost half a million signatures. And there’s one for Underground as well.
+ CW’s Legends of Tomorrow has cast Tala Ashe as “Muslim hacktavist” Adrianna Tomaz. The show has actually done a pretty solid job with resurrected bisexual badass Sara Lance, especially in the second season as it basically made her the commander of her crew. Tomaz will be the first Muslim character to join a superhero team in TV or movie history.
+ Netflix isn’t the only one getting in on the childhood nostalgia game. The Disney Channel is about to unleash a spin-off of That’s So Raven called Raven’s Home, in which she and Chelsea raise their kids together. (But not together-together, I don’t think.) (Even though they’re living in the same house and have been gay for each other a really long time.)
Movies
+ Angela Robinson, who you know from D.E.B.S., The L Word, True Blood, and oh so much more, has written and directed a new biopic called Professor Marston and the Wonder Women that explores WW creator William Moulton Marston’s life and explains how his unusual beliefs (for example, he was a hardcore matriarchy believer) influenced the most iconic woman superhero in the world. I’d also suggest Tim Hanley’s Wonder Woman: Unbound if you’re into this kind of thing.
+ The Carmilla movie has started filming! It’ll be released later this fall.
Week One: In The Can. #CarmillaMovie pic.twitter.com/vGFpbDxSPa
— Carmilla Series (@carmillaseries) June 2, 2017
+ Film critic Marya Gates is keeping a running list of Wonder Woman reviews written by women. I think she’s up to 100!
+ Hypable made you a list of 14 more women-directed movies to see in the wake of Wonder Woman.
+ Netflix has acquired the rights to distribute The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, a documentary about the pioneer trans activists and the mysteries surrounding her death. Entertainment Weekly is exclusively hosting the trailer for the film.
Queer Humans, Out and About
+ Rachel Maddow is now the most powerful person in cable news.
+ Just in time for Father’s Day Ellen surprised a pair of gay dads.
I’ve seen a lot about the Carmilla movie, but nothing seems to indicate that Danny is in it. I’m sad.
I’ve watched that cophine clip so many times I think I might have burned it into my screen.
DOMINIQUE PROVOST-CHALKLEY IS GOING TO BE IN THE CARMILLA MOVIE AND I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT THANK YOU AND GOOD NIGHT
I THINK I SCREAMED OUT LOUD WHEN I READ THE NEWS.
I would add that if you’re super into Marston and his whole deal you should read Jill Lepore’s book on Wonder Woman as a companion to Tim Hanley’s.
Overall, I liked Hanley’s better but if you can’t get enough of Marston’s marriage/family life etc Lepore’s book goes into that in a different way than Hanley’s. The books complement each other really well. But if you’re going to only read one, make it Hanley’s.
I was also going to plug Jill Lepore’s book!
Does Hanley address more thoroughly the queer/poly aspect of Marston’s personal relationships? That was my one beef with Jill Lepore’s book.
I think I had a *psychic* vision ab a that’s so raven sequel like a week ago-my jaw hit the floor when I saw this! I bet the “best friend” bit will only be thinly veiled seeing as how Raven is out in real life (right?) and kids these days are SO MUCH more savvy than when I was a kid. They’ll probs be calling out the gay subtext on this show faster than we will. YAY!!!!!
I’m excited for the Marsha P. Johnson documentary to be on Netflix. It has the same director as “How to Survive A Plague” (about the early years of the AIDS epidemic), and Sara Ramirez from Grey’s was one of the executive producers.
I want to vote for Rachel as Best bisexual. No, I don’t care that she isn’t a TV show. Why isn’t she nominated? That is bullshit!
so much love for my fans!!!
what can i vote for you in? let’s find something and trade
I saw an episode of Brown Girls this week and it was really good. Can’t wait for it to turn into a tv show!
I’m super-excited about Brown Girls and, more importantly, perhaps, about HBO’s willingness to embrace creatives doing work online. Most networks would’ve stopped with Issa Rae, assuming she was an anomaly, rather than one of many creatives showcasing their work on the web. Their willingness to step outside the traditional structures is only going to provide more opportunities for women, LGBT folks and people of color.
In other TV news, I somehow found myself watching the premiere VH1’s Daytime Divas and…well…that’s an hour of my life that I’ll never get back. But, if you’re up for the television equivalent of reading a trashy summer novel, then Daytime Divas might be for you.
The show’s a satirized version of The View, starring Vanessa Williams as the Barbara Walters-esque Maxine Robinson. I’ve seen comparisons of the character to Williams’ turn as Wilhelmina Slater on Ugly Betty which I begrudgingly acknowledge as true…but Daytime Divas lacks the heart that balanced out Wilhelmina Slater’s villainy.
DD also features Chloe Bridges (Sydney from PLL) as Kibby Ainsley who’s a thinly veiled version of Lindsay Lohan. In the pilot, we learn that Kibby considers herself to be “sexually fluid” and, as she says goodbye to her hard-won sobriety, she makes out with her girlfriend and some random dude they meet at the club.
The
mostonly interesting storyline of the episode was seeing the Elisabeth Hasselbeck-like character and her husband grapple with their gender-noncomforming child. It’ll be interesting to see how that story plays out……you know, if I was going to watch Daytime Divas ever again, which I most certainly will not.
I’m beyond glad to see Brown Girls finding a home at HBO. Really hoping they find their footing as well as Insecure did.
Also, regardless of whatever dudeman extras they prance around Raven’s Home, I’ll never believe she and Chelsea aren’t together together. They can’t make me.
between Brown Girls and Insecure it’s looking like i’m going to have to start shelling out for an HBO subscription. or find someone who’ll loan me their HBO Go login.
and thank goddess rachel maddow is back! give me smart political analysis delivered by butch babes or give me death, ya know?
Check out Cable Girls!
It’s feminist, queer, in Spanish,on Netflix, and AWESOME.
I wanna see you guys talk about it!