AMC and Netflix have inked a deal to bring several series from the cable network to the streaming platform later this summer. Variety reports that the agreement includes seasons 1-8 of Fear the Walking Dead, season 1 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, seasons 1-4 of Preacher, seasons 1-3 of A Discovery of Witches, seasons 1-3 of Into the Badlands, seasons 1-2 of Kevin can F*** Himself, seasons 1-2 of Dark Winds, seasons 1-2 of Gangs of London, season 1 of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire, season 1 of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, season 1 of Monsieur Spade, season 1 of That Dirty Black Bag and season 1 of The Terror. All of them will join Netflix on August 19 and will be available for one year. The first seasons of both The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live will land on Netflix on January 13.
Budget-minded viewers may also appreciate that these AMC shows will be available to watch ad-free, even for people on Netflix's ad-supported standard plan. The same is true of all eleven seasons of The Walking Dead that are already on the streaming service.
"These curated titles are also being strategically windowed to drive interest in current and upcoming seasons on our direct-to-consumer and partner platforms," AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan said of the arrangement. "We believe this significant expansion of our Netflix relationship will drive viewership and engagement on Netflix, while also raising awareness and interest in our award-winning content on AMC-branded and partner platforms across our distribution ecosystem.
The cable company pursued a similar, even shorter-term deal to get Fear the Walking Dead and other programming in front of the Max streaming audience in 2023. The company’s own streaming service, AMC+, had 11.5 million subscribers as of May 2024.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amc-is-bringing-fifteen-shows-to-netflix-for-one-year-230551808.html?src=rss
Amazon Prime Day is nearly here, with an official start date of July 16. However, early deals are already going live. For instance, Prime members can pick up two months of Paramount+ with Showtime for $12. This works out to $6 per month, which is a savings of 50 percent.
This deal may only exist for Prime members, but it does apply to those who sign up for a free trial. So if you’ve been wanting to give Prime a try, this is a pretty good time to do so.
Opting for this subscription allows access to two streaming platforms. Paramount+ is home to dad-friendly shows like Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown, but also that Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff Knuckles, Halo and a lot more. It’s also, sort of, home to all of Star Trek, even if the latest season of Star Trek: Prodigyjust released on Netflix.
Showtime is HBO’s younger and scrappier sibling. It airs all kinds of modern prestige dramas, like Billions, Yellowjackets and the criminally underrated On Becoming a God in Central Florida. It’s also the network that originally premiered classics like Dexter, Shameless, The L Word and Homeland, among others. Finally, it’s the only place to watch Twin Peaks: The Return, which is pretty much the best thing ever.
If you aren’t a Prime member and still want this deal, you can sign up directly through Paramount. However, Amazon makes it pretty convenient to keep track of your subscriptions via its channels platform. To that end, the company has also discounted some other streamers. Starz, home to Outlander and Party Down, is $2 for two months. MGM+, which currently airs a pretty neat genre show called From, is also $2 for 60 days.
No matter which option you go with, make sure to keep track of when you signed up. This ensures you can cancel before the price bounces back up, if you aren’t digging the content.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-prime-members-can-get-two-months-of-paramount-with-showtime-for-only-12-165933773.html?src=rss
It pains me to say this, but it’s been 20 years since David Firth’s Salad Fingers made its debut and irrevocably altered the humor of the internet. The first episode of the web series hit Newgrounds on July 1, 2004. To mark this milestone birthday, Firth dropped a 20th anniversary special earlier this week that sees the titular Salad Fingers taking a walk down memory lane, bringing us all the way back to those early moments that seared the phrase “I like rusty spoons” into the collective consciousness of an entire generation of internet users.
Things won’t be exactly as you remember them, though. This is how it all went down according to Salad Fingers and, well, are we really expecting Salad Fingers to be a reliable narrator? The 7-minute video expands the lore a bit and revisits characters like the shrieking “young child” (who has some clarifications to make regarding their identity) and the disturbing finger puppet friends Hubert Cumberdale, Marjory Stewart-Baxter and Jeremy Fisher. If you’ve followed the series over the years and made it all the way to 2023’s “Harvest,” you’ll also recognize the absolutely horrifying Melvin Wishcake, who Salad Fingers refers to this time as “Manky Melvin, the stinky reject.”
I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for this deranged cartoon, as I’m sure many of you do, and this was a real treat. I might just have to dive back in and rewatch the whole series now, which is up to 13 episodes not counting this latest special. Thanks for the (cursed) memories, Salad Gregory Stuart Fingers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/salad-fingers-turned-20-this-week-and-theres-a-new-episode-out-to-commemorate-it-163230203.html?src=rss
It pains me to say this, but it’s been 20 years since David Firth’s Salad Fingers made its debut and irrevocably altered the humor of the internet. The first episode of the web series hit Newgrounds on July 1, 2004. To mark this milestone birthday, Firth dropped a 20th anniversary special earlier this week that sees the titular Salad Fingers taking a walk down memory lane, bringing us all the way back to those early moments that seared the phrase “I like rusty spoons” into the collective consciousness of an entire generation of internet users.
Things won’t be exactly as you remember them, though. This is how it all went down according to Salad Fingers and, well, are we really expecting Salad Fingers to be a reliable narrator? The 7-minute video expands the lore a bit and revisits characters like the shrieking “young child” (who has some clarifications to make regarding their identity) and the disturbing finger puppet friends Hubert Cumberdale, Marjory Stewart-Baxter and Jeremy Fisher. If you’ve followed the series over the years and made it all the way to 2023’s “Harvest,” you’ll also recognize the absolutely horrifying Melvin Wishcake, who Salad Fingers refers to this time as “Manky Melvin, the stinky reject.”
I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for this deranged cartoon, as I’m sure many of you do, and this was a real treat. I might just have to dive back in and rewatch the whole series now, which is up to 13 episodes not counting this latest special. Thanks for the (cursed) memories, Salad Gregory Stuart Fingers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/salad-fingers-turned-20-this-week-and-theres-a-new-episode-out-to-commemorate-it-163230203.html?src=rss
A live-action adaptation of Totally Spies is now in production at Amazon. According to a report from Variety, Will Ferrell is the executive producer of the live-action series based on the popular 2000s animated series from French media company Banijay Kids, formerly known as Marathon Media.
The live-action Totally Spies will follow Sam, Clover and Alex as they balance saving the world as international spies working for the agency WOOHP with tackling schoolwork and social lives as college freshmen. No actors have been cast as any of the iconic girls, nor are writers attached to the project just yet.
The original Totally Spies was created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel, and it revolved around the three aforementioned teenage girls from Beverly Hills, California as they are recruited by WOOHP to solve worsening crimes that arise around the world. They’re equipped with spy gear disguised as women’s accessories such as hair dryers, high-heel shoes and lipstick. It’s like an animated Charlie’s Angels, except the girls actually see their boss in person.
Since its premiere in 2002, the series aired over 180 episodes, as well as spawned a prequel movie and a spin-off show, The Amazing Spiez. The seventh season of Totally Spies premiered in France last month after a nearly ten-year break, and it will air on Cartoon Network and Max in the US later this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-developing-a-live-action-totally-spies-series-201623189.html?src=rss
Delicious in Dungeon just wrapped up its first season on Netflix, and we now have confirmation that there will be another. The studio behind the show shared on social media this week that a season two is coming, and it’s already in production. The anime, based on the manga by Ryoko Kui, follows a group of broke adventurers who end up eating monsters along their quest to save their friend from the belly of a dragon. It’s one of the most unexpectedly delightful things I’ve watched recently and, despite the questionable ingredients that often go into the meals, has some truly top-tier examples of mouthwatering anime foods.
🐲 DELICIOUS IN DUNGEON SEASON 2 🐲
🔥 Now in production! We want to thank you for supporting #DeliciousinDungeon!
— Delicious in Dungeon - Official (@dun_meshi_en) June 13, 2024
Delicious in Dungeon is produced by the Japaneses animation studio, Trigger, Inc. The first season got a 24-episode run with weekly releases, but it’s all available and ready for binge-watching now if you haven’t gotten around to it yet. The final episode dropped on Thursday. Just don’t go into it hungry.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sweet-theres-going-to-be-another-season-of-delicious-in-dungeon-224918513.html?src=rss
HBO has announced that House of the Dragon will be back for a third season. The network confirmed the renewal of the Game of Thrones spinoff series in a press release just three days ahead of its Season 2 premiere.
“George [R.R. Martin], Ryan [Condal] and the rest of our incredible executive producers, cast and crew have reached new heights with the phenomenal second season of House of the Dragon,” Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO Drama Series and Films, said in the press release.
HBO hasn’t revealed any details about the third season of House of the Dragon, nor has it given a release window. Still, it’s not uncommon in the streaming era for networks like HBO to renew shows for future seasons before upcoming seasons go live, like The Last of Us.
Last year, Orsi told Deadline that House of the Dragon may have more than four seasons. She added that Martin, whose book Fire & Blood inspired the spin-off series, and showrunner Condal were going to discuss where to end the show before the writers’ strike started. That strike ended on September 23, 2023 with the Writers Guild of America reaching an agreement on protections against generative AI.
The renewal also comes two days after Martin confirmed in a blog post that HBO is moving forward with another Game of Thrones spin-off, Ten Thousand Ships. He wrote that playwright Eboni Booth is “working on a new pilot” for the prequel about Queen Nymeria and the Rhoynar after the show was previously scrapped.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/house-of-the-dragon-renewed-for-season-3-ahead-of-season-2-premiere-203425819.html?src=rss
It looks like the sun hasn’t quite set on Finn, Jake, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum and the rest of the post-apocalyptic gang. The iconic cartoon Adventure Time is coming back in a big way, according to a report by Variety.
Cartoon Network Studios is working on three new entries in the franchise, one movie and two TV shows. There are no plot details regarding the movie, which makes sense given the end of the show and those follow-up specials, but there’s a bunch of talented people behind the scenes.
Rebecca Sugar is back, who made many of the best episodes of the original run before creating Steven Universe. The same goes for Adam Muto, the showrunner throughout the latter half of the series, and Over the Garden Wallco-creator Patrick McHale. We don’t have any release date or platform information for the movie, but it’ll likely stream on Max.
Adventure Time: Side Quests is a kids' show that looks similar in theme to the early seasons of the OG series. It stars a younger Finn and Jake as they get their start in adventuring throughout the Land of Ooo. This won’t be a heavily serialized show. It’ll mostly be standalone episodes starring earlier versions of beloved characters, like The Ice King. Nate Cash, who was an animator on the original series, is attached to this one.
"ADVENTURE TIME: HEYO BMO" is in development at Cartoon Network Studios. The first-ever #AdventureTime preschool series follows little BMO as he approaches each challenge he faces with his unique brand of enthusiasm and a curiosity to learn and fill his database. #AnnecyFestivalpic.twitter.com/ifsOsNFbaz
Finally, there’s Adventure Time: Heyo BMO. This show won’t just be for kids, it’s being made for preschoolers. As the name indicates, it stars everyone’s favorite sentient portable gaming console, BMO. An early promotional still indicates that the animation will be some sort of riff on claymation. Adam Muto will also be involved with this project.
It looks like there’s something here for everyone. The movie should please adults who grew up on the show. Side Quests is for kids, like the original Adventure Time was at first, and Heyo BMO is for preschool-aged children. Also, Max recently greenlit the alt-universe spinoff Fionna and Cake for a second season. The adventure truly will never end! For the record, I’m here for it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/adventure-time-is-coming-back-with-a-movie-and-two-spinoff-series-163357706.html?src=rss
Somehow, it's already been almost a year and a half since the first season of The Last of Us arrived on HBO. Things are well underway with the second season, and we've known for a while that it won't premiere until 2025. We still don't know exactly when to expect it (though given that they're well into shooting, an early-year debut isn't out of the question), but we do now know that season two will only have seven episodes.
In an extensive interview with Deadline, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (director of the two The Last of Us games that Naughty Dog has released for various PlayStation consoles) confirmed the shorter season. "The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons,” Mazin said to Deadline. “When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”
That said, Mazin said that season three will likely be "significantly larger" — we don't know if that's from a scope perspective or running time perspective, but it's an interesting thing to broadcast given that we're still six months minimum away from season two premiering. And Deadline also confirmed that season two will have at least one extra-long episode, much like the 90-minute series premiere and the 70-plus minute episode focused on Bill and Frank in season one.
We've known for a while that Mazin and Druckmann were going to spread The Last of Us Part IIover multiple seasons, but it even sounds like the story could spin into a forth season. "We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4," Mazin said.
While the plotting of The Last of Us Part IIwas fairly involved, with lots of flashbacks and multiple points of view, stretching it over three seasons seems like a bit much. But based on this interview, it sounds like Mazin and Druckmann have figured out exactly where they want each season to begin and end and what story beats it'll cover. Of course, the show hasn't yet even been renewed for season three yet, so all this is contingent upon continued success. Given that season one was one of HBO's biggest ever, that probably won't be an issue.
Pedro Pascal as Joel in the first image from The Last of Us, season two.
HBO
Finally, Deadline dropped a surprising tidbit about a potential third game in the series — specifically, it's still unknown if one will happen. Indeed, the publication says that "a new installment has not been picked up or put into development." That's a very strong statement, albeit one that isn't sourced directly from a quote or given any real attribution. If true, it means a third The Last of Us game could easily be more than five years away, if it ever happens.
Druckmann did confirm that the show won't go beyond the what has been portrayed in the video games, unlike the HBO Game of Thrones series infamously moving beyond the novels it was based on (not that they had much of a choice). "As a fan, I’m thrilled that there might be a third Last of Us game," Mazin said. "As the co-creator of this television show, there’s no world where I would want our show to go beyond the source material that people have in the world."
Hopefuly, Deadline just has its lines crossed about a potential third game — with Summer Games Fest just days away, there's a lot of buzz around what Sony's first-party studios, including Naughty Dog, might be planning to announce. The last bit of concrete news we got around the game series was that the planned multiplayer game set in the Last of Us universe was canceled.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hbos-the-last-of-us-season-two-will-only-be-seven-episodes-long-203949287.html?src=rss
The following article discusses spoilers for the first season of X-Men ‘97.
I was excited about the return of the ‘90s Saturday morning cartoon version of the X-Men. Still, I wasn’t sure Marvel, under the auspices of Disney, could deliver on the flavor of the original while also making a modern show that older fans, now adults in their 30s and 40s, could enjoy. And X-Men '97 is a total play on our nostalgia, which makes it even odder that it delivers. And is better than the original in pretty much every way.
And of all the Marvel baubles that needed some affection, the X-Men arguably needed it most. The ten-episode run managed to cram in so many plotlines, cameos, comic sagas, villains, plot twists and even deaths that, at times, it was hard to process everything — but I utterly loved how relentless it all was. X-Men ‘97 goes hard, especially if you’re already an obsessive fan.
When Marvel first launched an all-you-can-read comic book app, I went in hard on the X-Men back catalog, especially stories by Chris Claremont and Grant Morrison, two of my favorite writers. X-Men ’97 mines a lot of my favorite characters and stories. Magneto is put on trial, and begins a (brief?) redemption arc, Jean Grey turns out to be a clone, and the cartoon crammed a roughly-year-long comic arc, Inferno, into a single episode. Other arcs either included wholesale, or with some riffs, include Lifedeath, Fatal Attractions, Motendo, Operation: Zero Tolerance and more.
The highlight of this first season (a second is already underway) has to be the crushing episode 5, where the mutant nation of Genosha is devastated by a high-powered sentinel mothership… thing. Just before the attack destroys mutant adults, mutant children and eventually even an X-man, Cable, the time-traveling son of Scott Summers and Jean’s clone. (See: Inferno, mentioned above) reappears to stop the attack. But he fails again and his mother dies.
Magneto is left helpless as mutants are slaughtered and he’s forced to relive the genocide he suffered as a child. Eventually, Gambit sacrifices himself and lights up the entire robot with his mutant ability. This is after Rogue reignites a romance with Magento, changes her mind, and decides to be with Gambit. As I said, each episode is a lot.
I may be alone in this, but I still prefer the older series’ animation style and look. A cartoon can look a little scrappy, in my opinion —or maybe I’m just 39 and also not a Disney executive. The majority of the action scenes are great, too. Cyclops is finally not done dirty and gets to thrive in fights. There are some great combination attacks comparable to the iconic fastball special.
Sometimes, the show can feel a bit too “anime” (And I love anime, don’t at me!), where the ridiculous scale of the fight removed a lot of my interest in it. Cool, Bastian has metal wings in the final episode. Yes, yes, very cool. But didn’t one of his super sentinel underlings wipe the floor with the X-Men mid-series? And did we need the Phoenix to reappear (again!) so that Jean can save her 50-something son from the future? Probably not.
But, it’s the X-Men. It wouldn’t be the X-Men without this kind of nonsense.
I also adored the attention to detail. How Storm changed back to her original comic-book attire, Rogue transitioned to her green and white look, Magneto wore the same black-and-white costume while on trial, just like the original comic book. X-Men '97 doesn’t miss the chance to sprinkle in other Marvel characters, too. Captain America pops up a few times, we spot an out-of-costume Spider-Man, with Mary Jane Watson, watching the fall of Asteroid M. The Silver Samurai, who got his own episode in the original series, stares on as Tokyo loses power due to Magneto’s attack on the whole of Earth.
In other episodes, an aged Polaris, Rachel Grey and more mutants briefly appear in a vision of the future. The series is bursting at the seams with references, easter eggs and surprises. Did you know that Bastian is briefly, obliquely, on-screen during the horrific attack on Genosha, long before he’s revealed as the X-Men’s primary antagonist? Well, he is. It’s a show that’s ripe for debate and discussion in an era of Reddit, Discord and YouTube reactions.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stipulated that both the cast and the music had to return for the project to happen. I’m glad it did and I’m glad the theme song still slaps.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-men-97-didnt-have-to-go-that-hard-140023964.html?src=rss