Something next to normal, that's the thing I'd like to try

THIS is the longest linkspam ever. At least a week's worth, and of course my busiest week ever is the week a slew of TV renewals, pick-ups, and cancellations were announced. I still have some straggler tabs that I haven't looked at yet, but this is getting out of control, so let's just hit post...

Marvel links:

* How they did the sound effects for Iron Man 3.

* Still haven't seen it, so you tell me: did IM3 ruin the Mandarin?

* Tony Stark is the new Captain America? (Metaphorically, obviously.) I guess it's not that surprising that Cap would rub off on him quite a bit. (...heh heh)

* Joss talks more about Avengers 1 and 2, as does Kevin Feige.

* Even though Joss has already debunked the Marvel contract negotiations article (or at least the parts that were about him), the question of whether Avengers 2 needs Iron Man creatively is an interesting one. Assuming, of course, I can set aside my immediate "BUT TONY/STEVE!!" reaction... lol. I'd rather have a Tony Stark-less Avengers 2 than recasting RDJ, though.

* Another collection of hilarious RDJ quotes. "I’d rather wake up in jail for a TB test than have to wake up another morning knowing I’m going to the set of US Marshals." See, this is what makes him not seem like a total asshole when he talks about how awesome he is - because he's just as brutally honest when talking about the craptastic shit he's done.

* And another really long RDJ interview. He talks a lot about his childhood and dancing in this one.

* Saoirse Ronan is apparently the "prototype" for Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2. The article also includes this piece of WTFery: the characters will be British "rather than trying to have actors playing Eastern Europeans." Because there are no actual Eastern European actors in the world who could possibly play the roles? If they just want to make the characters British, whatever, but making them British so that actors don't have to play Eastern European is kind of ridonkulous.

* Who on earth thought dudes in tactical gear carrying assault weapons was a good way to promote a movie? Even one with some connection to S.H.I.E.L.D.

* Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was officially picked up for a full season, thereby becoming the early favorite for the Emmy for Longest Title of a TV Series. It also has a very shiny new logo.

* With superhero movies doing so well, why are superhero TV series struggling so much? And what does that mean for S.H.I.E.L.D.?


TV links:

* One more post-mortem for season 1 of The Americans.

* The Americans is promoting two of its cast members to series regulars, though I don't think we should be any less worried about them possibly getting killed off.

* Homeland is also promoting some folks to series regulars.

* Sarah Michelle Gellar's new show (also starring Robin Williams) was picked up. Alas, so was Margo Martindale's show, which means I guess we won't be seeing her much (or at all) on The Americans.

* Parks and Recreation has been renewed for a sixth season. Scandal, Suburgatory, Nashville, and Revenge were all also renewed.

* On the other hand, Smash was canceled, as was Go On. And this summer will be the last season for Burn Notice.

* Since Kiefer Sutherland's show Touch isn't coming back, apparently someone decided we need more 24? So we may be getting another 13 episodes.

* As if TVD and The Originals weren't enough, Julie Plec has a THIRD series coming to the CW next season. (Also: WOW Aimee Teegarden looks different with dark hair.)

* 10 things you didn't know about The Office. Sadly, some of those casting ideas (Alan Tudyk as Michael Scott? An African American Pam? sound more awesome than the show we got.

* I haven't been watching Psych this season, but Cary Elwes is coming back.

* Who should play the Mother on HIMYM? Do we even care anymore?

* Bryan Cranston was in town and talking politics. Heisenberg for president?

These linkspams seem to be getting longer and longer, lol.

* How much good TV is too much? Alan Sepinwall knows my struggles, yo. This is why my to-watch list is a mile long and never gets any shorter.

* On that note, here's a guide to 2013 TV premiere dates, so you can figure out when your favorite shows are on. I am feeling overwhelmed just looking at it, and I don't even watch 90% of what's on there.

* What would Mad Men be like if it actually dealt with race? Actress Erika Alexander wrote a spec script that involves SCDP partnering with a predominately black ad agency on an ad campaign aimed at minorities. It's rather similar in set-up to the Admiral televisions episode (where Pete suggests marketing to black consumers), except that the client actually goes for it.

* A psychiatrist analyzes Don and Roger (sadly, he does not conclude that Don is a sociopath), and evaluates the therapy scenes in the show.

* Will season 6 be the year Betty Francis finally breaks out of her suburban prison?

* B.J. Novak, writer, director, and actor on The Office, just landed a book deal.

* This interesting review of this week's episode of The Americans asks whether Philip and Elizabeth really belong together, or if Gregory was right, and we should be rooting for Elizabeth to find someone else.

* Catching Fire photos of Katniss and Prim.

* Jenna-Louise Coleman talks about Doctor Who and the mysterious existence of Clara Oswin Oswald.

* Doctor Who Dalek found in pond after years of England just tossing their used Daleks wherever they please. Hee!

* Robert Downey Jr. continues his reign as awesomest person ever. Here he is wearing lederhosen while promoting Iron Man 3 in Germany.

* First Dexter season 8 teaser with actual footage - LOL I watched it before reading the article, so I was like, "Wait, Liev Schreiber is on this season?? How did I not know that?" Nope, there are also clips from Ray Donovan, Showtime's new series starring Schreiber.

* The Veronica Mars Kickstarter ends tonight. To capitalize on the buzz, Amazon is offering S1-3 DVDs at 40% off.

Things I dreamed about last night that I wish were real:

1. Breaking Bad the musical
2. Jeremy Jordan as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad the musical
3. Me making out with Jeremy Jordan

Note to self: Smash + pizza before bed = strange but wonderful things.

Linkspam:

* Jason Dohring is officially on board for the Veronica Mars movie.

* Pics from Thor 2. They lack Tom Hiddleston, therefore I am unimpressed.

* It remains unconfirmed, but I would love to see J. August Richards on S.H.I.E.L.D.

* Teaser for Marvel's Phase 2. It's about 75% Iron Man 3, but still some really cool-looking stuff in there. Still struggling to care about Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, but that may be my Avengers bias (i.e., why should I care about these new people? Give me the characters I loved in Phase 1).

* Pics from The Originals spinoff, if you're into that sort of thing.

* Jon Hamm talks about the upcoming season of Mad Men. Highlight: discussion of Don Draper as a high-functioning sociopath.

* John Slattery also has an interview about Mad Men. Plus, check out the season 6 promo photos.

* Finding Nemo is getting a sequel, Finding Dory. Also, what your favorite Pixar movie says about you.

* Matthew Rhys talks about his role on The Americans.

* They're no longer being auctioned off, but you can still watch clips of audition tapes from A-list actors, most of whom didn't get the roles. Some are good, others are hilariously bad.

* I'm rather looking forward to David Tennant in Spies of Warsaw, so here, have an interview. Anyone else planning to watch?

[1-4] Justified
[5-6] Lost
[7-12] The Americans
[13] The Avengers concept art
[14-15] Iron Man 2
[16-17] Breaking Bad
[18-42] Farscape
[43-85] The Hunger Games
[86-89] Beauty and the Beast (Disney)
[90-92] Elementary
[93-95] Merlin

Preview:



( Read more... )

* I still haven't gotten around to House of Cards, but as a longtime West Wing fan, I'm really glad that politics is becoming a feature of so many TV shows lately. I don't know that I'd necessarily call them "political procedurals," since most of the shows mentioned - of the ones I've watched, which is Parks and Rec, Scandal, Battleground, Nashville, and 1600 Penn, and someone on Twitter also suggested The Good Wife should be included in this genre - are actually very serialized in their storytelling and could only loosely be described as having a "political crisis of the week" the way legal, medical, or police procedurals have cases of the week. Scandal started out that way in season 1, but season 2 has gone full-tilt into serialized plot, which - even though it's been absolutely off-the-wall bananas, lol - has actually turned it into a much more interesting show. I feel like part of that is the nature of politics, because unlike those other professions, politics is almost always in pursuit of a long-term goal, whether it's winning an election or passing a bill or whatever. And so you always have to be moving the story forward, whereas a doctor or lawyer or crime scene investigator can be a lot more static.

* Speaking of shows with a political bent, HOW GOOD WAS LAST NIGHT'S AMERICANS? Here's a nice write-up that focuses on the show's intersecting themes of marriage and feminism. Matthew Rhys also talks about the show and why Keri Russell keeps slapping him before takes.

* Emmy Rossum talks about Shameless, which is another excellent show you should be watching.

* Lost Girl is getting a fourth season.

* If Touch gets canceled, I won't be sorry to see Kiefer Sutherland shift to playing "the world's most wanted criminal."

* Cool new poster for Iron Man 3.

ETA: The guys behind Next to Normal are making another musical! WITH IDINA MENZEL! \o/

* Following the success of the movie, Les Miserables is, unsuprisingly, coming back to Broadway. Has anyone seen the "reimagined" show? I am torn - I am kind of curious to see what's been changed, but I also don't want to be disappointed if it's TOO reimagined, lol. Speaking of Broadway, I'm going up to New York next weekend with my mom. We're taking our chances at the TKTS booth, but if anyone has recommendations, I'm open. Right now, I'm leaning toward either The Mystery of Edwin Drood or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

* My bb Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick in a movie version of The Last Five Years! First of all, I am shocked this is happening, because TLFY is not a very well-known show, so I'm not sure what kind of movie audience they'd get (surely not the blockbuster of Les Miserables) although maybe they're counting on the new off-Broadway production to drum up attention? Second, I am curious how they plan to adapt it, given the structure of the show. But mostly: YAY.

* The Americans has been renewed for a second season already. After only four episodes have aired. That's how good it is, people.

* Nifty Catching Fire posters.

* Men and women apparently tweet differently. Women are more frequent users of "emoticons, ellipses (…), expressive lengthening (nooo waaay), repeated exclamation marks, puzzled punctuation (combinations of ? and !), the abbreviation omg, and transcriptions of backchannels like ah, hmm, ugh, and grr." As a frequent offender in allllllllll of those categories, this piqued my interest. I haven't read through the entire study, but the first thing that pops into my head is whether Twitter-speak might be influenced by the culture of more gendered spaces on the internet (compare the predominately female LJ/DW to the predominately male Reddit). We tend to adopt the speech patterns of our social group, and I know that I at least have been very influenced by my fandom experience. (I NEVER USED TO CAPSLOCK SO MUCH. NOW I HAVE ALL THE FEELINGS.)

And now, top fives:

From ever_neutral:

( Top Five Dudes You Would Bang )