This Week In TV: Star Wars TV Show, Iron Fist, Rambo Update

Are you lot still here? Don’t you realise it’s nearly Christmas? Nothing’s happening in television this week. I mean, This Week in TV is trooping on, like the legends we are. We have something called professionalism at Cultured Vultures, so we can offer you the latest on the long stalled live action Star Wars TV show and Marvel’s next Netflix show. Oh, and we have an update on last week’s big Rambo TV show story. Just remember how good we are to you.

One of the big Christmas movies this year is Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight. In a stroke of genius cross-promotion Jimmy Kimmel invited one of its stars, Channing Tatum, onto the show to say eight hateful things to a kitten:

TV News

Star Wars Live Action TV Show

Before George Lucas offloaded the Star Wars franchise onto Disney for the GDP of a small country, plans were in the works for a live action Star Wars TV series. Star Wars: Underworld, which would have taken us into the criminal underbelly of Coruscant (the main planet from the prequels), was scrapped not long after the mouse house took the reigns. A recent interview might have just changed all that though.

Kathleen Kennedy, current Jedi Master on all of Disney’s Star Wars projects, spoke to /Film recently and revealed the company has been looking over George Lucas’ old scripts for the series. Could this mean we’ll be getting a Breaking Bad level crime drama set in the Star Wars galaxy?

Geek site io9 reports recent speculation that new Star Wars TV shows could land on Netflix in a similar deal to the one Marvel currently holds with the streaming service. Judged on the success of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, it could be a good move, although the added costs of Star Wars sets and special effects could make it difficult to do multiple shows. Netflix might bite the bullet on that one though, since Star Wars is an even more recognisable brand than Marvel.

 

Iron Fist

Speaking of Marvel and Netflix, the deal between the show was to bring four comic book shows to the streaming service. The first two, Daredevil and Jessica Jones, have now been released, with Luke Cage to follow next year. The last of the four, Iron Fist, has turned into somewhat of an enigma this year. It turns out though, that the show is still happening, and finally has a showrunner.

Scott Buck, a writer for shows such as Dexter and Six Feet Under, will be in charge of the series. There’s no official word on the direction Buck plans to take the series, especially considering rumours abound earlier this year that Marvel were struggling to adapt the character. Iron Fist, real name Daniel Rand, is a man from New York who has learnt martial arts and gained the mystical power of the Iron Fist.

Marvel have released a brief description of the series, setting up the basics of it’s story: “Returning to New York City after being missing for years, Daniel Rand fights against the criminal element corrupting New York City with his incredible kung-fu mastery”. Here’s hoping for some awesome Wuxia style fight scenes.

 

Mystery Science Theatre 3000

So what’s become clear in recent weeks is that the internet loves it some Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (MST3K). Since creator Joel Hodgson launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund new episodes of the cult show, the world wide web has lost its collective mind. The big news this week though, is that at least one new episode will be penned by Community creator Dan Harmon.

At time of writing the show’s Kickstarter has only a day or so left, but has already made $4.3 million in fan pledges. The project hasn’t been shy about hiring cast members for the show, including comedians Jonah Ray and Patton Oswalt, and actress Felicia Day. Meanwhile, Dan Harmon isn’t the only writer hired for the show. Justin Roiland (Harmon’s partner on Rick and Morty), Ernie Cline (author of Ready Player One) and Robert Lopez (Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) will all also pen episodes.

If you’re not familiar with MST3K, it follows a lab subject sent into space to discover the worst film ever made. Each episode sees the subject (a different character in different iterations of the show) watch a different terrible B-Movie and make fun of it along with a pair of robot sidekicks. It didn’t make sense in the 80s either, but it’s not really meant to. In an age where some people are more likely to watch Youtube Let’s Plays than play actual video games, this revival might just stand a chance.

 

Rambo TV Update

Last week we gave you the scoop about a new Rambo television series coming to Fox. We also mentioned that the show’s original star Sylvester Stallone might have a recurring role in the show. Turns out that won’t be the case anymore. In fact, Stallone’s people got in touch with Deadline just to tell them this, and it looks a lot like the whole project is in massive jeopardy without the original John Rambo’s star power.

 

Doctor Who’s Next Companion

Current Doctor Peter Capaldi has shared a few thoughts on what sort of companion he’d like to see travel in the TARDIS next. Hint: he’s not keen on them having a penis. Capaldi’s objection to having another dude with him in his time travel hijinks apparently comes from fear of being sidelined in the show’s action sequences. Exactly why the actor thinks a female companion would allow him to keep doing the action scenes is unclear. Surely he doesn’t think ladies aren’t incapable of kicking ass too? He’s seen Alien hasn’t he?

 

The Blacklist

Not a major surprise here, but NBC have officially renewed The Blacklist for a fourth season. The show, which stars the world’s greatest actor James Spader, is one of NBC’s biggest tentpoles. According to the show’s creator Jon Bokenkamp the show had already been renewed several months ago. The network must be feeling pretty confident right now, having already given freshman show Blindspot a second season. Along with Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D, that makes four renewals for NBC before we’ve even hit the new year.

 

Kevin Sorbo reunites with Hercules creators

Remember how awesomely goofy Hercules: The Legendary Journeys was back in the innocent 90s? The show’s lead Kevin Sorbo and it’s producers Sam Raimi (Spiderman, The Evil Dead) and Rob Tapart are apparently getting the band back together. This is not a Hercules revival though; the new show will be called Miracle Man and Sorbo will play an Army Ranger returning from Afghanistan. If this description already bores you, we can also reveal his character will find himself able to do low level miracle stuff as well.

 

Dirty Dancing

Here’s something I’m fully qualified to report on: a TV remake of Dirty Dancing (sarcasm disclosure). American network ABC have released details about the project, which will air as a three hour musical special at a date as yet unspecified. The big news is that teen star Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland, Scream Queens) will play the show’s female lead. No news yet on who’ll fill Patrick Swayze’s boots in the special.

 

Wayward Pines

After his recent film troubles, M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) is in need of a win, and Wayward Pines just gave it to him. The show, which looks very Twin Peaks inspired, has finally been renewed for a second season. The series follows improbably named FBI agent Ethan Burke as he investigates the disappearance of two fellow agents in the tiny town of Wayward Pines. We’re expecting the season two cliffhanger to be the arrival of Agent Dale Cooper in a helicopter.

Viral Videos

To celebrate the release of Steven Seagal movie simulator Just Cause 3 the guys over at VideoGamerTV gave us a rundown of the worst despots in gaming:

We’re less than a week away from the new Star Wars movie you guys! Are we having tunnel vision though? Here’s a compilation from back in the fun loving 90s, where Star Wars fans heap praise on The Phantom Menace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSaaa_OBkzw

Meanwhile, isn’t now the perfect time to revisit the burning question of whether Han shot first? Conan O’Brien does exactly this.