Welp, we know the title of American Horror Story this season: “Cult.” And I am ALL IN despite knowing that I’m going to love the first three episodes before it “pulls a Murphy,” as my sister said upon hearing this news.
Based on what we know about the series, and from this enigmatic trailer, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this season will be about a murder clown cult that worships Twisty, and its leader is elected President. It will be a whole comment on how partisan politics have made us all like cult members, blindly following the leaders of whatever group we align ourselves with. Also, too, that our President is a fucking clown.
Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Billie Lourd, Billy Eichner, Cheyenne Jackson, Alison Pill, Colton Haynes, Adina Porter and Lena Dunham are all starring in this season which will debut on FX on September 5. In the meantime, you can go to AHS7.com and join the cult. As for me, I’m going to be worrying over this still from the trailer, which in a super duper creepy trailer might be the super duper creepiest thing. WHO IS THAT WOMAN AND WHY IS SHE SURROUNDED MY MURDER CLOWNS?
More Comic-Con News:
Game of Thrones brought winter to Comic-Con and the lines were horrendous.
Here’s Sunday’s Game of Thrones preview. It looks … eventful. (And no, this isn’t Comic-con related, but I don’t care. My blog, I do what I want.)
The Walking Dead‘s Deadquarters sounds like it was really something: “For younger fans, there’s a Walking Dead-themed batting cage complete with a pitching machine lobbing baseballs at hitters who were armed with — what else — Lucille.”
Outlander set up the print shop for folks to wander through.
Legion puts you inside David’s brain.
Barb gets the tacky shrine she deserves.
The cast and crew of The Exorcist opened up a little about what we can expect from season two. Most interesting: “Going into this season, the reason we switched it up from an upper-class urban family was to give it a nature look; the blues and greens make it feel more cinematic. It opens the sandbox to play in other types. A lot of Japanese horror is nature-based, and that can influence where we’re going this season.”
Here is the Legion group telling us nothing about season 2.
Here is the Sherlock team teasing that they are working on something, but won’t say what.
Once Upon a Time is returning on ABC on October 6.
Timeless talks about NBC admitting it made a mistake by cancelling them, and suggests that next season will look at ways history has ignored important figures based on race, gender and class.
Battlestar Galactica had another reunion, here’s a bunch of things that they said.
In Non Comic-Con News
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did an interview with their writing/producing partners, Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman to discuss their upcoming project Confederate, and all of the harsh backlash it’s receiving.
Another concern some have raised is that a show like this could end up as almost pornography or wish-fulfillment for white supremacists and the alt-right. What’s your reaction to that worry about a show where the South won the Civil War.
MS: I think that [using the word] “winning” creates the wrong image. [In the world of Confederate], it was a standstill. They maintain their position, the North maintains theirs. What people need to recognize is, and it makes me really want to get into the show: The shit is alive and real today. I think people have got to stop pretending that slavery was something that happened and went away. The shit is affecting people in the present day. And it’s easy for folks to hide from it, because sometimes you’re not able to map it out, especially with how insidious racism has become. But everyone knows that with Trump coming into power, a bunch of shit that had always been there got resurfaced. So the idea that this would be pornography goes back to people imagining whips and plantations. What they need to be imagining is how fucked up things are today, and a story that allows us to now dramatize it in a more tangible matter.
And here are some counterpoints.
Lady Doctor will be paid the same as Peter Capaldi and it is super depressing that this even has to be a story.
Hulu announced their fall premiere dates, including The Mindy Project and Marvel’s Runaways.
Dick Van Dyke will be honored by the BAFTAs with the Britannia Award for some reason. Not that he’s not great! He’s great! But he’s also never made a British TV show, so.
Aww, these two meet while auditioning for Jeopardy and now they’re married.
Cancellations
In Development
- Amazon picked up Picnic at Hanging Rock which stars Queen Margaery.
- Amazon also picked up the rights to Tin Star, a revenge drama starring Tim Roth and Christina Hendricks.
- AMC is turning David Cronenberg’s novel Consumed into a series.
- Stargate is back, but as a digital series.
- Guilty: The Conviction of O.J. Simpson will air on A&E in October.
- E! has greenlit The Platinum Life, a reality series about women in the music business.
- The Beat with Ari Melber will begin airing on MSNBC on Monday.
- Syfy has announced Face Off is getting a spinoff, Game Face.
- A&E has greenlit Chloe Does It!, a digital spinoff of Dance Moms.
- Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath returns on A&E on August 15th.
Casting News
- Jimmy Smits will have a multi-episode arc on How to Get Away with Murder this season.
- Saïd Taghmaoui will be the new Shadow King on Legion.
- Michael Shannon is joining the cast of David O. Russell’s unnamed Amazon series.
- Eric Lange (Narcos) will star in Showtime’s Escape At Dannemora.
- Amanda Brugel is joining Working Moms for the second season.
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
Ozark: Jason Bateman and Laura Linney star in this new thriller that is receiving strong reviews. Netflix
Descendents 2: This is either the most important thing to happen this week, or you have no idea what this even means, there is no in between. 7 p.m., Disney, ABC, Lifetime, Disney XD, Freeform, LMN
Raven’s Home: Also, the sequel to That’s So Raven is happening. Series premiere. 9 p.m., Disney
SATURDAY
Hacksaw Ridge: Hey, it’s a war movie. 7 p.m., HBO
Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies: The season premiere focuses on Russian sleeper agents. This is me not making a Donald Jr. joke. 7 p.m., CNN
Glengarry Glen Ross: Coffee is for closers. 7 p.m., Flix
SUNDAY
Insecure: The most underrated new comedy is back for season two! Season premiere. 9:30 p.m., HBO
Ballers: Elizabeth Warren’s favorite series is back. Season premiere. 9 p.m., HBO
Game of Thrones: OHMYGODTHEMOSTIMPORTANTSTARKREUNIONISABOUTTOHAPPEN!!!! 8 p.m., HBO
Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Friday): Kevin Bacon, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Nate Bargatze The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: (Friday): Kenneth Branagh, Cara Delevingne Watch What Happens Live (Saturday): Dave Franco, Olivia Munn, Justin Theroux, Zach Woods, Michael Pena, Kumail Nanjiani, Abbi Jacobson (Sunday): Alfie Allen, Jacob Anderson, John Bradley, Gwendoline Christie, Liam Cunningham, Nathalie Emmanuel, Conleth Hill, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright Watch What Happens Live (Sunday): Charlize Theron, James McAvoy
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Descendents 2 (new) |
Descendents 2: After Party (new) |
| CBS | Big Brother (live) |
Hawaii Five-0 (repeat) |
Blue Bloods (repeat) |
| CW | Masters of Illusion (new) |
Masters of Illusion (repeat) |
Penn & Teller: Fool Us (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | Masterchef (repeat) |
Beat Shazam (repeat) |
Local |
| NBC | America’s Got Talent (repeat) |
Dateline NBC (new) |
—
| SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
| ABC | America’s Funniest Home Videos (repeat) |
20/20: In an Instant (repeat) |
Still Star-Crossed (new) |
News/Local |
| CBS | Doubt (new) |
Doubt (new) |
48 Hours (repeat) |
News/Local |
| FOX | UFC Fight Night (live) |
News/Local |
| NBC | American Ninja Warrior (repeat) |
Dateline NBC (repeat) |
News/Local | Saturday Night Live (repeat) |
—
| SUN. | 6:00 | 6:30 | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | America’s Funniest Home Videos (repeat) |
Celebrity Family Feud (new) |
Steve Harvey’s Funderdome (new) |
The $100,000 Pyramid (new) |
| CBS | 60 Minutes (repeat) |
Big Brother (new) |
Candy Crush (new) |
NCIS: Los Angeles (repeat) |
| FOX | Bob’s Burgers (repeat) |
Bob’s Burgers (repeat) |
The Simpsons (repeat) |
Family Guy (repeat) |
American Grit (repeat) |
| NBC | Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly (new) |
Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (repeat) |
Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (new) |