Tag Archives: FOX

Red Band Society – Fox

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It is entirely possible that the strength of this show may be the reason I find it hard to tune into week after week.  Watch the promo and you will find this is a well acted, heart tearing show about teenagers dealing with life-altering illnesses and the hospital caregivers who somehow help them cope with these life changing events.

Starring  Octavia Spencer (“The Help,” “Fruitvale Station”), Dave Annable (“Brothers & Sisters,” “666 Park Avenue”) with a selection of very talented young actors as the patients, the clips already available on the FOX website show scenes that tear at the heart-strings, and characters with strength, and grit.


What I hope to find when I tune in is a strong sense of humor and selection of lighter moments that balance the intense plot lines that the show will obviously feature.

The fact the show is narrated by a boy in a coma does offer some hope that the lighter side of life will be featured just as prominently, but the gallows sense of humor is not for everyone, and most of these clips from the first episode seem to lean towards the darker side.

All of that said, what keeps catching my eye, and drawing me back to wanting to watch this new show is the clearly character-centric feel of the promos and pitch.  Some much of the most compelling drama comes not from the ticking clock in the operating room, but the trials and tribulations of the patient before they even make it to the operating table.

Twelve-year-old narrator CHARLIE (Griffin Gluck, “Back in the Game,” “Private Practice”) is in a coma and introduces us to this band of unlikely friends, including the “new kid,” JORDI PALACIOS (Nolan Sotillo, “Prom”), a 16-year-old who comes to California to seek out treatment at the renowned hospital. What Jordi soon discovers is that it’s not his illness that’s going to change his life, but his new friends. Also at Ocean Park is LEO ROTH (Charlie Rowe, “Neverland,” “Pirate Radio”), the 16-year-old, charming and independent “leader” of the group. Leo’s best friend is DASH HOSNEY (Astro, “The X Factor”), a 16-year-old “rebel” with a big personality, who is determined not to let his cystic fibrosis stop him from living his life. Also on the ward is 15-year-old “know-it-all” EMMA CHOTA (Ciara Bravo, “Big Time Rush”), Leo’s on-again-off-again girlfriend who is coping with an eating disorder. Rounding out this group of patients is KARA SOUDERS (Zoe Levin, “Arrested Development,” “The Way Way Back”), a “mean girl” cheerleader who shares a room with Charlie. Although her heart is failing, she is realizing for the first time that she actually has one and begins opening it up to her new friends.

The pediatric ward is run by NURSE JACKSON (Spencer), a caregiver with a take-no-prisoners approach to helping these teens get the most from their lives. Little do they know that she puts her own life second, and her stern manner hides her incredible heart that secretly makes their lives more ordinary. Overseeing much of their treatment is DR. JACK McANDREW (Annable), the country’s top pediatric surgeon. Also attending to the patients is the naïve and gullible Nurse BRITTANY DOBLER (newcomer Rebecca Rittenhouse), who allows the teens to get away with things they probably shouldn’t. These mentors’ lives are more complicated than they seem. They are the guiding force for these teens, but in their own personal lives, things might not be so easy.

“Like” RED BAND SOCIETY on facebook at facebook.com/RedBandSociety. Follow the series on Twitter @RedBandSociety & join the discussion using #RedBandSociety.
See photos and videos on Instagram @RedBandSociety.

Stand Up To Cancer 2014

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The Stand Up To Cancer press release says so well what they are about, and what is going on tonight.  Normally we avoid the copy and paste approach with press releases… but in this case, the details matter too much, and we want to get it exactly right.

 Friday, September 5th (8:00 – 9:00 PM ET/PT) Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), will stage its fourth biennial fundraising event.  Robert Downey Jr., Melissa McCarthy, Steve Carell, Sofia Vergara, Ben Falcone, Kevin Bacon, Anna Kendrick, Tony Goldwyn, Dave Grohl, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Gad, Giada De Laurentiis, Jaime King, Mira Sorvino, Joe Manganiello, Jordana Brewster, Alison Sweeney, Amanda de Cadenet, Charlie Wilson, and Diem Brown, will be part of the star-studded appeal to help build public support for SU2C’s groundbreaking translational research that can provide patients with new therapies to save lives now. They join previously announced participants including Gwyneth Paltrow, Katie Couric, Reese Witherspoon, Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Jon Hamm, Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Mark Harmon, Rob Lowe, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Tony Hale, Dane Cook, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Marg Helgenberger, Matt Passmore, Rob Riggle, Italia Ricci, Ethan Zohn and Bree Turner. Special musical performances include: The Who, Jennifer Hudson, Lupe Fiasco & Common, Ariana Grande, and Dave Matthews Band.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions will co-executive produce the September 5th broadcast, live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.  ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, along with ABC Family, American Forces Network, AXS TV, Bravo, Cooking Channel, Discovery Fit & Health, E!, Encore, Encore Espanol, EPIX, ESPNEWS, FOX Sports 2, FXM, HBO, HBO Latino, ION Television, LMN, Logo TV, MLB Network, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, Palladia, Pivot, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, Starz, TNT and VH1 are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for the nationally televised fundraising special on Friday. In addition, the show will stream live on both Hulu and Yahoo.

Instead of the traditional phone bank staffed by celebrities, the September 5th telecast will feature a “digital lounge” on the set, hosted by Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric. Stars in the digital lounge will reach out to viewers via phone, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms through an exciting new campaign called “We’re Calling You” that SU2C’s supporters can sign up for at werecallingyou.org.

In the on-stage digital lounge, Katie Couric will tap into the Facebook Mentions Box, which allows supporters to share their connection to cancer and receive real-time responses from celebrities. Other celebrities in the digital lounge will participate in Facebook Q&As, using their own pages to respond live to fan questions.  Facebook and Instagram will also have a presence on the star-studded red carpet on September 5th with a photo experience that will capture the stars as they make their way into the Dolby Theatre, sharing those images and videos with fans. All of this, and much more, can be followed on Stand Up To Cancer’s social media feeds (facebook.com/su2c | Instagram: @SU2C | Twitter: @SU2C).

In addition to Facebook, an array of digital and social media platforms and influencers— ranging from Shazam, reddit, Nerdist, Tumblr, Yahoo, Hulu, AOL, and The Huffington Post— are helping support SU2C this year.

For the first time, there will be a Canada-inclusive co-broadcast of the 2014 telecast, which will air simultaneously on all four major English-language Canadian networks: CBC, City, CTV and Global, along with Canadian services AMI, CHCH, CHEK, Fight Network, Gusto TV, Hollywood Suite and TLN. All funds received from the Canadian general public during the broadcast will be directed towards the creation of collaborative research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.

The first three SU2C telecasts took place on September 5, 2008, September 10, 2010 and September 7, 2012, and were made available to more than 190 countries. To date, more than $261 million has been pledged to support SU2C’s innovative cancer research programs. Since 2008, SU2C has funded 12 “Dream Teams” of researchers and two translational research teams, as well as 26 young innovative scientists whose high-risk, potentially high-reward projects are aimed at ending cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death worldwide.

There are times when it seems competition and the free market reign supreme, but Stand Up To Cancer is a prime example of an industry pulling together as one united force in opposition to something that touches lives daily throughout the world.  As they say on the StandUpToCancer website:

1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. We can change these odds.

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Gotham – Cast on the Zipline

It is hard to believe San Diego’s Comic-Con International was a month ago!  This coming weekend DragonCon will be taking place in Atlanta Georgia and FanExpo Canada will draw a crowd in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  The three conventions have a lot in common, but for many San Diego’s Comic-Con International is still seen as kicking off the summer convention season, and it becomes understandable when you consider the displays and demonstrations that take place each year.

One such example was the cast of FOX’s Gotham taking their turns on the zipline in front of the Gotham City Skyline, and the Gotham City Police cars that were roaming around the gaslamp area offering rides to convention goers.

That’s what happened last month, here’s looking forward to my first trip to Fan Expo Canada, and hoping to hear from friends about DragonCon which I have not made it to in far too long.

On Monday, Sept. 22, origin story GOTHAM (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) kicks off.  The series follows one cop, destined for greatness, as he navigates a dangerously corrupt city teetering between good and evil, and chronicles the rise of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes. The entirely new, untold chapter comes from executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist,” “Rome”) and stars Ben McKenzie (“Southland,” “The O.C.”), Donal Logue (“Vikings,” “Sons of Anarchy”) and Jada Pinkett Smith (“Hawthorne,” “Collateral”). 

Gotham – Lanyards and Badges

Gotham Lanyard Tag

Part of the Gotham promotion at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International was at the Trolley Tracks area where people were handing out these very nice badges hanging from Gotham lanyards. Changing the angle on the back side and seeing the characters change identities was a nice use of the effect.