Because that Singalong Blog about superheroes/supervillians wasn't gay enough, now there is word from up high that comic legend Stan Lee is working with Showtime to adapt Perry Moore's Hero into an hour long drama.
Even after attending Thrillist/Showtime's house party last night at 23 Gramercy Park South, I'm still not sure what prompted those guys to take a $25 million mansion and convert each of the rooms into a set from one of the station's premiere shows (except Secret Diary of a Call Girl, which already hit splitsville, and was replaced by a room promoting Toni Collete's new show, The United States of Tara). But it was so well-executed that you couldn't fault the half-baked idea: most of the rooms didn't seem like straight set-pieces from the shows so much as a prop master's wet dream.
Also: all of the bathrooms were for decoration only? Which was weird. And you weren't allowed to sit on the chairs in the rooms, except when you could, and it was decided arbitrarily by the giant security guards standing in the narrow hallway. Just like on a real studio lot!
The highlight was the Dexter dining room, complete with vials of blood on the table the approrpiate forensic webbing done by Mr. Morgan on the show.
Mad props to the interior design team for the evening, one of whom was apparently seen getting lucky out on the back patio later that evening. Awww, they deserve it for such a swell job!
More pics after the jump:
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When Dexter premiered on Showtime in 2006, it was a chance for fans of HBO's Six Feet Under to refuel their Michael C. Hall obsession, but also prompt viewers with an interesting experiment: Can you love a serial killer? Generally, television audiences are trained to route for the good guys. On Law & Order, you want Det. Green to nail the suspect, not the other way around. So, after two seasons of blood spatter analysis and following Harry's code, the answer was abundantly simple: Absolutely.
And then in came Season Three this year, where serial killer Dexter is rewriting his own rules for who he takes out, which means he can kill any bad person, even non-murders. And that begets the question: Can you still love a serial killer? Or, as Daily Intel put it, "Are you ready to dislike Dexter again?"
As it turns out: Hell fucking yeah. Because the latest Q score data shows that Dexter is the most lovable guy on television right now, even if he does cut people into duffel-bag-sized pieces. CONTINUED »
'David Duchovny, the “Californication” and “X-Files” star, has completed a rehabilitation program for sexual addiction, his lawyer said. In August Mr. Duchovny, 48, announced that he had checked himself into the Meadows, a treatment center in Wickenburg, Ariz., to begin a 35-day program. On Monday his lawyer, Stanton L. Stein, announced in a statement: “David has successfully completed his rehabilitation. He is out of rehab and will be starting a movie soon.' [NYT] And soon thereafter, returning to his method acting for Californication, where he plays a recovering author who always wants to screw.
Last month, it was just Wired and Rolling Stone that the marketing kiddies behind Dexter showed the world. Now, a full-blown newsstand: The New Yorker (with a cover from actual New Yorker illustrator Edward Sorel), GQ, and Esquire get the treatment. This comes, supposedly, on the heels of a marketing trend, where advertisers are using mock magazines to push their product — even though print is dying and everyone is using The Twitter! CONTINUED »
We've already seen the marketing genius behind Showtime's excellent serial thriller Dexter at work: Blood-flushing urinals, dead guys on the street, body parts in the butcher's display window.
To market the series' third season, which kicks off Sept. 28, Showtime has produced a series of Dexter magazine covers. We've got Rolling Stone here, and below, Wired. So they're marketing these to … savvy media types? Because general audiences are going to prefer more severed body parts.
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Because vampires are all the rage right now, HBO is getting in on the act with its new fall series True Blood. It's show about a group of vampires living in modern society, and they will probably address all those questions about silver bullets, crosses, and daylight. But what makes the show worth even being interested in, of course, is the marketing leading up to it. HBO's main gimmick for the show is Tru Blood, an "energy drink" made of your favorite O or AB- platelets. Perhaps you've seen advertisements for it on billboards or websites like ours. There's also the website BloodCopy.com, a faux news blog for all things vampires. And some tube of synthetic blood that will likely appear in the mailboxes of television critics.
Which is all well and good, but when it comes to marketing a show about bloodsports, HBO's True Blood has a worth adversary. CONTINUED »
With all the fuss being made over J.C. Penney's real-but-not video spot that won a Cannes Bronze Lion, we were pleased yesterday when some actual marketing stunts arrived from Dexter, the Michael C. Hall series about a lovable serial killer.
First, there was Dexter’s Wrapping Paper ("Due to its impermeability and adhesion keeps the victim well wrapped and the floor free of blood splatter. Avoiding leaving clues and traces of any crimes."), which carried information about the series printed on the plastic wrap itself.
Then there was this guerilla stunt, with a piece of fake meat on display in a butcher's window.
And then came two truly captivating stunts: One involving a urinal, the other involving a dead guy on the street. CONTINUED »
The cast of Weeds does not, as fans and James Franco might've hoped, smoke real weed during scenes where characters are filmed smoking weed. Says castmember Elizabeth Perkins: "It's a combination of herbs that don't get you stoned. If we smoked real weed, we wouldn't get anything done over here." But while she's on the subject: "I think it is crazy that it is illegal, and I think it is crazy that people are in jail once they get busted with small amounts of marijuana. I just don't see it as that dangerous of a narcotic."
Jenji Kohan, the brilliant creator of Weeds, whose first name conveniently happens to make us think of "ganja," delivered something quite remarkable for Showtime this week: Its highest rated show ever. The Season 4 premiere racked up 1.3 million total viewers, besting an episode of Dexter last year. So Kohan kinda gets to say, and do, as she pleases. And taking a cue from The Hills creator Adam Divello and, if rumors are to be believed, Gossip Girl's Josh Schwartz, she might use that capital to blossom something new: a spin-off. CONTINUED »
The media has oversimplified the decision by Paramount to stop selling its shows to Showtime! You see, Paramount is Viacom's movie studio, while Showtime is CBS's premium channel, and the two were getting along so well ever since Viacom and CBS went their separate ways, but now Paramount is teaming with MGM and Lionsgate to create a new premium channel.
Les Moonves, who heads CBS, played nice in press reports with Viacom chief Philippe Dauman. Moonves' deputy, Showtime chief Matthew Blank, told the Times, "We wish them well." Dauman not-so-blandly opined, "It’s our responsibility at Viacom to drive our strategy to benefit our shareholders."
But now one newspaper is fueling rumors all this backroom dealing is a move to try to oust Moonves! CAN YOU BELIEVE?
Corporate daddy Sumner Redstone, who chairs both Viacom and CBS, is said to be unhappy with CBS's crappy stock performance. Or at least those are the rumors Dauman's been able to plant, as he eyes the throne of octogenarian Redstone, who, despite his misgivings, must leave this earth, and his companies, at some point.
From a Showtime marketing blast: "It’s almost 4/20… and you know what that means: WEED…S! Showtime’s hit series WEEDS is back June 16th and it’s on fire. With the embers of Agrestic smoldering in her rear view mirror, Nancy Botwin is ready to exhale and start fresh. She’s packing up and moving the joint, but where?"
Is Michael C. Hall's serial character on Dexter too sympathetic? CBS, which will air an edited version of the Showtime series to fill a writers strike void, is now getting flack from press release enthusiasts the Parents Television Council for airing a show that encourages viewers to root for a mass murderer. Uh, yeah … but he kills bad guys.
STREAM-TIME Rather than spend the cash to mail out DVD screeners of its Emmy-hopeful series, Showtime will begin streaming the videos a special Brightcove website for academy voters. The easier to pirate you, my dear. [B&C]
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are reportedly suing Showtime over the unauthorized use of the made-up word "Californication" for an upcoming new show. Says lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, "Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band's career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right." (Weird!! We always thought that was "Under The Bridge.")
Meanwhile, an unconvinced Showtime exec angrily shot back, "Whatever happened to 'Give it away, give it away, give it away, now?'" Or, for that matter, "Hump de Bump?" [CNN]
"Showtime is known for content that is too racy for network television, so it is perhaps fitting that its latest slogan should be inappropriate for the networks, too," writes the suddenly-prudish NYT. "A two-minute promotional spot on the cable network features the slogan, "The Best Stuff on Television," although the actual third word is an expletive that cannot be used by family-friendly networks (or newspapers)."
Family-friendly newspapers? Ha! Since when did the Gray Lady become so modest?
A first-look at what your career graduates to when you're best known for saying "You got it, dude." [Mollygood]
• Madonna's been defending hubby Guy Ritchie after the press hammered his latest flic Revolver, but she had to do even more on the red carpet at the UK premiere. Fans booed and hissed at the entertainment power couple, but only because the press started it.
• Chanel will be keeping Kate Moss on as their Coco Mademoiselle fragrance face through October but will not renew her contract when it expires. Their PR spin, of course, insists their decision had nothing to do with her recent cocaine cavoriting.
• Olivia Newton John's nephew is claiming his aunt split with missing boyfriend Patrick McDermott several months ago because of his excessive drinking. As for his disappearance, nephew John thinks he probably fell off the boat drunk.
• At last night's taping of Premiere's Women in Film event, Charlize Theron was on hand to (literally) kiss Shirley MacLaine's ass.
• Kirstie Alley's 50-pound weight loss finds her just 30 pounds away from her goal weight, though we're not sure whether that's good or bad news for Showtime execs yet to announce whether they'll renew Fat Actress.
Editorial Director
