When can you devour the next three episodes of “Sherlock?” Will “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” get cancelled or stick around? Why did George Clooney delay the release of his own movie? The Eagle’s Mark Lieberman answers these questions and more in an overview of this week’s pop culture news.
Get ready to find out how Sherlock survived that nosedive.
After months of speculation and scheduling conflicts surrounding in-demand stars Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Fifth Estate”) and Martin Freeman (“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”), PBS announced on Oct. 23 that the popular BBC series “Sherlock” will air its third season of three 90-minute installments beginning Jan. 19. For the first time, the show will air alongside PBS’ other mainstream hit “Downton Abbey.” BBC has “first air” rights to “Sherlock,” which means that the show could debut in Britain even earlier than January, in case fans are interested in illegal torrenting. For law-abiding fans, the mystery of Sherlock’s escape from the clutches of Moriarty will be solved in just three months’ time.
George Clooney’s “Monuments Men” aren’t quite ready to stand on their own.
George Clooney’s (“Gravity”) latest directorial project, the historical dramedy “Monuments Men,” has been delayed from its December release date to an unspecified time in February at the earliest, Warner Brothers announced Oct. 22. The move will give Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov more time to polish the visual effects. Although this schedule change removes “Monuments Men” from this year’s Oscar conversation and likely hampers its Oscar chances for next year, Clooney believes the film is meant to be an intelligently crafted crowd-pleaser rather than awards bait. The cast is certainly appealing with Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban filling out the ensemble.
““Beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice:” the chant actually works.”:http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/90430/beetlejuice-2-and-pop-cultures-current-obsession-with-the-past
Warner Brothers is officially in talks with Tim Burton for the possibility of a sequel to Burton’s 1987 horror comedy classic “Beetlejuice.” While the movie’s fans might be wary of risking the original’s brilliance by extending the joke too far, Warner Brothers is hoping to develop a script that does justice to the original film. The original star Michael Keaton has yet to read the script or commit to the film, and Burton currently has several other projects lined up before he could even get around to “Beetlejuice 2,” but the possibility is enticing nonetheless.
Pop music exploded on Sunday night.
Three of pop’s biggest stars unleashed noteworthy new singles to iTunes on Oct. 20. Lady Gaga is currently in the final stages of promotion for her much-anticipated new album “ARTPOP.” Her duet with R. Kelly “Do What You Want,” rocketed instantly to the top of the iTunes sales charts. Meanwhile, Justin Bieber continued his intriguing marketing strategy of releasing one new single for ten consecutive weeks with the third installment, a minimalist R&B jam “Hold Tight.” As if Gaga and Bieber weren’t enough, Taylor Swift dropped a one-off single called “Sweeter Than Fiction” from the soundtrack to the upcoming film “One Chance.” With Katy Perry’s album “PRISM” finally dropping this week, fans of mainstream pop had plenty to chew on.
Can three brothers from the same mother really split up?
Nostalgic fans of teen pop have been buzzing all week about rumors that Jonas Brothers have split up just before they were set to embark on their first tour in several years. The band cancelled its fall tour just two days before it was set to begin, but things got really serious when the brothers deleted their joint Twitter account. Joe and Nick Jonas both obliquely addressed the rumors on Twitter, acknowledging that the band was having problems and suggesting that the allegations of creative differences were not unfounded.
Rest easy, TV lovers. Some of your favorite shows are sticking around.
As the fall season begins to take shape, networks are beginning the unenviable task of deciding which shows to keep and which shows to discard. Fox announced last week that the new cop comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” will air the entirety of its first season. Bonus: the show will air alongside “New Girl” in this year’s coveted post-Super Bowl slot, a vote of confidence for a new show with fairly low ratings. On the subscription side, Showtime announced renewals for the polarizing thriller “Homeland” and well-received newcomer “Masters of Sex.”
