News

‘Searching for Sugarman’ Producer Passion Signs ‘Planet Earth II’ Showrunner

Searching for Sugarman producer Passion Pictures has snapped up the showrunner of Planet Earth II from Plimsoll. Tom Hugh-Jones will boost Passion’s natural history offering and be based in Bristol, taking on the new title of MD Passion Planet (Bristol). He has a wealth of major natural history credits including Planet Earth, Human Planet and Life Story across a 30-year career, while he most recently helmed A Real Bug’s Life for Disney+, which launches today. “Planet Earth II and Tiny World are two of my favourite natural history series of all time,” said Passion CEO Nick Southgate. “The chance to work with the showrunner of these extraordinary pieces of TV was a no-brainer. I can’t wait to dig in with Tom and Dave and create a new era of intelligent, big wildlife shows.”

Netflix Explores UFO-Inspired Religion

Netflix...

A version of this story about the Emmy-nominated cinematographers of National Geographic first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

The Emmy nominations always have their fair share of eyebrow-raisers, but there’s one company you can always count on for a bevy of nonfiction notices: National Geographic. The nature-forward brand earned eight Primetime Emmy nominations this year. It’s also unstoppable in the cinematography categories, with nine nominations and three wins in the last eight years in Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program and nine straight nominations and five straight wins for “Life Below Zero” in Outstanding Cinematography in a Reality Program.

Nat Geo has three more cinematography nominees this year, so we talked to their directors of photography about their approach to their subjects, whether the shows are set in the desert, the rainforest or the bitter chill of Alaska.

Netflix has ordered a multi-part natural history series on the world’s oceans from Freeborne Media, the production outfit of acclaimed natural-history producer James Honeyborne, who created “Blue Planet II.”

Each of the series’ episodes will focus on a different ocean, “combining the disciplines of oceanography, geography and earth sciences to experience these characteristics in new ways,” Netflix said in a statement. The series is the first project to spring from a multi-year deal signed by Freeborne with Netflix to create big-budget natural history programs.

The streaming giant is delving more deeply into the natural history space. It has already released on its platform “Our Planet,” a multi-part wildlife series narrated by BBC stalwart and acclaimed naturalist David Attenborough. That blue-chip series, four years in the making, was filmed in 50 countries and investigated different habitats across the globe, including the deep sea.

“Oceans” (working title) will range “from the tropical...

Veteran nature cinematographer Jamie McPherson “couldn’t not be involved” with “Our Planet.” Netflix‘s eight-part documentary series narrated by David Attenborough takes viewers through some of nature’s greatest wonders, so he was intrigued by the “huge scope” of the series and “the stories they wanted to tell,” which had “conservation at the heart of it.” Watch our exclusive video interview with McPherson above.

See Sophie Lanfear interview: ‘Our Planet’

McPherson traveled around the globe for the show, and everywhere he went he was tasked with capturing the native wildlife in a unique way. For instance, in the opening episode, “One Planet,” he shot wild dogs and wildebeests in the African Serengeti and “wanted to show people what it was like to be on the hunt with a pack of wild dogs,” he explains. It’s “an amazing thing in itself. You see them running, they’re so fast...

James Honeyborne, the creator of “Blue Planet II,” has inked an overall deal with Netflix.

Honeyborne is an internationally acclaimed producer of blue-chip natural history programming. He recently left U.K. pubcaster the BBC’s Natural History Unit to set up his own banner, Freeborne Media, with director Renee Godfrey. They have inked a multiyear deal to make natural history and science programming for Netflix, the streamer said Wednesday.

Netflix is pushing more deeply into natural history originals. It has already greenlit “Our Planet,” a huge-scale eight-part wildlife series that will be voiced by the naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough. It is being produced by another well-known ex-bbc natural history producer from the U.K., Alastair Fothergill, through his Silverback banner.

In a long career at the BBC’s vaunted Natural History Unit, Honeyborne made more than 30 shows including “Blue Planet II” and “Africa.” Godfrey’s credits include “Tribe” and “Human Planet.

Exclusive: In Nicolas Brown’s documentary The Serengeti Rules, he follows a group of scientists around the world as they studied different ecosystems to see how nature works. They discovered surprising conclusions in what that led to similar conclusions about life on our planet.

In the clip above, we see a serene scene as an otter swims through a serene environment of kelp surrounded by various creatures. This is just one scene in the documentary which tells the tale with profound implications for the fate of life on our planet. From the Serengeti to the Amazon jungle; from the Arctic Ocean to Pacific tide pools, the five scientists in the documentary dive deep into the inner-workings of various ecosystems and how they all adhere to a single set of rules that govern all life.

Brown is not a stranger to documenting nature and the environment. He has won three Emmys...

With just a few days until the sequel to the amazing Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) comes out, news has already hit that writer and director James Gunn will indeed be returning to make the third installment.

Anyone who saw the first film will know that its great mix of comic book mayhem, mixed with its incredible soundtrack and hilarity, will be excited about the follow up, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which hits cinemas on April 27.

This time we have the full Guardian line up, set a couple of months after the events of the first, with Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and even Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) on board the rebuilt Milano. We already know that we are bound to meet Ego the Human Planet (Kurt Russell) who it turns out will be Star Lord’s dad?...

Bears

Written by Alastair Fothergill and Adam Chapman

Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey

UK and USA, 2013

During its fledgling years as a film studio, the Walt Disney Company helped revolutionize the nature documentary with its True-Life Adventure series. Here, as never before, audiences could thrill to the story of seals, beavers, bears, tigers, and the rest of the creatures sharing space with us on Earth. These days, what is most striking about these early documentaries is less the physical ground they cover, and more that they come from a patient time in filmmaking. Documentaries like The Living Desert and Seal Island featured narration and music, and sometimes attempted to play up the humor of an animalistic situation, but they were still created by people who afforded their presumed audience a base level of intelligence. In some respects, these nature documentaries were born out of the insistence on...

Sky 3D has announced plans for groundbreaking one-off film Pandas 3D.

Produced by Oxford Scientific Films in a co-production with the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association and the China Conservation and Research Centre, the 60-minute documentary will showcase the highly endangered giant pandas in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in China.

The production has had unrivalled access to the nature reserve during a critical time in the species' history as fresh attempts are made to take giant pandas back into the wild.

Alongside the natural breeding programme, it will also capture the captive breeding programme, including footage of newborns, young pandas playing, and methods of encouraging pandas to get in the mood with panda sexercise and panda porn videos.

It will be directed by Nicolas Brown (Human Planet) and produced by Caroline Hawkins (Meerkats 3D).

Caroline Hawkins, creative director of Oxford Scientific Films, said: "It is a privilege to have this opportunity.

Cyber Monday is here and Amazon.com are offering DVD and Blu-ray sales deals for this online-centric final day of the week-long discount shopping sales period. Below are the biggest bargains I've found, many of which have carried over from the Black Friday sales. This is your last chance to get this discounts though, it all goes back to normal soon.

Please note that Dark Horizons will earn a very small referral fee when readers purchase something on Amazon through one of the links below. Said fee helps contribute towards the site's running costs, so if you do grab something - thank you. In terms of personal recommendations for titles and bargains below:

Cyber Monday Blu-ray Picks:

The Criterion disc sale is continuing apace and there's a whole separate article for it right here. Joining since yesterday are titles like "Black Orpheus," "Certified Copy," "Eating Raoul," "House," "La Haine," "The Last Days of Disco,...

It’s a good time to be a Blu-ray and Disney buff. Of course, this has been true ever since Blu-ray became the format of choice, beating HD-DVD in the format wars from a few years ago. (Who doesn’t have fond memories of the format wars? Oh, sure, there were casualties, but we had fun, didn’t we? Of course, it’s not as memorable as the Rock ‘n’ Roller Cola Wars Billy Joel sang about it, but what is?) The last few months, in particular, have been fruitful for Disney fans who own Blu-ray players. In fact, it’s come to a point where such fans’ wallets are getting too light. If you haven’t reached this point yet, you may get there this week, because Disney is releasing six—count ‘em, six—films on the HD format: The Aristocats, Chimpanzee, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure,...

LoveFilm, the Amazon-owned TV and movie rentals company, has today announced the addition of high definition (HD) content to its streaming service. The HD functionality allows LoveFilm Instant members to stream selected films and TV shows over the internet in HDTV resolutions up to 1080p for no extra charge. LoveFilm Instant, the streaming-only package launched last year, on PC or Mac will give the option for full 1080p high definition, but members using their Xbox 360 or Samsung and LG connected TVs will get only 720p resolution. In the UK, HD streaming titles now available include The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Gnomeo and Juliet and Four Lions, along with Us TV shows such as Lost and Ghost Whisperer, and BBC documentaries, including Human Planet and Planet Earth. LoveFilm said that more HD titles would be added to the service over the (more)...

Yesterday we brought you the news that Amazon’s LOVEFiLM had partnered with Universal to bring you exclusive streaming content and after seeing a tweet yesterday from @LOVEFiLM, they also announced that they would begin high definition streaming. We’ve now received the press release below which gives you more information.

This is a great move by the Amazon company as it now brings them up to speed with their main rival NetFlix who launched their service at the beginning of the year. Streaming is absolutely the way forward when it comes to watching movies it’s great to see these companies investing in it so heavily to push boundaries for the consumer.

Full press release:

Amazon’S LOVEFiLM Launches High Definition Streaming – HD Day – 31st May 2012

LOVEFiLM, an Amazon company, today announced the launch of high-definition (HD) service, giving LOVEFiLM Instant members crystal clear viewing.

The HD functionality, available...

This 3 disc set is a must for anyone who enjoyed the BBC series Planet Earth or Life. Showcasing man's ingenuity in surviving environmental extremes the eight episodes that form  Human Planet are visually and audibly stunning but even more than that they are genuinely moving documents of human perseverance. In Oceans we meet a tribe that only touches land when they need to refuel their houseboats. In Deserts we watch a group of women use ancient navigate the blank slate of a massive desert. In the Arctic we witnessa Narwhal hunt. That's right! I said Narwhal hunt. This isn't a set to watch once and put on the shelf. This is a set to introduce friends- especially children to, and to re-watch whenever you need a...

Digital Spy presents the full list of winners from the 2011 Philips British Academy Television Awards. > 'Towie', 'EastEnders', 'Sherlock' win BAFTAs

BAFTA TV Awards 2011: Reaction

> BAFTA TV Awards 2011: The winners in pictures

> BAFTA TV Awards 2011: Red carpet pictures

> Read our full coverage of the BAFTAs Drama Series

Being Human (BBC Three)

Downton Abbey (ITV1)

Misfits (E4)

Sherlock (BBC One) - Winner! Entertainment Performance

Rob Brydon - The Rob Brydon Show (BBC Two)

Stephen Fry - Qi (BBC One)

Harry Hill - Harry Hill's TV Burp (ITV1)

Graham Norton - The Graham Norton Show (BBC One) - Winner! Specialist Factual

Alan Bennett and the Habit of Art (The Making Of) (More4)

Flying Monsters 3D (Sky3D) - Winner!

Human Planet (BBC One)

Pompeii: Life (more)...

Digital Spy presents the full list of winners from the 2011 Philips British Academy Television Awards. Drama Series

Being Human (BBC Three)

Downton Abbey (ITV1)

Misfits (E4)

Sherlock (BBC One) - Winner! Entertainment Performance

Rob Brydon - The Rob Brydon Show (BBC Two)

Stephen Fry - Qi (BBC One)

Harry Hill - Harry Hill's TV Burp (ITV1)

Graham Norton - The Graham Norton Show (BBC One) - Winner! Specialist Factual

Alan Bennett and the Habit of Art (The Making Of) (More4)

Flying Monsters 3D (Sky3D) - Winner!

Human Planet (BBC One)

Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town (BBC Two) Supporting Actress

Gillian Anderson - Any Human Heart (Channel 4)

Lynda Baron - The Road To Coronation Street (BBC Four)

Lauren Socha - Misfits (E4) - Winner!

Jessie Wallace (more)...

Downton Abbey and Human Planet have been honoured at the BAFTA Television Craft Awards. The programmes both picked up two prizes at the ceremony, which was held yesterday. Downton Abbey won awards for direction and sound, while Human Planet was recognised in the categories for factual editing and factual photography. Other winners included ITV1's gameshow The Cube, which beat The Apprentice, Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor in the 'Entertainment Craft Team' category. Peter Bowker took home a BAFTA for his writing on Eric and Ernie, while Mongrels scribe Jon Brown (more)...

Following in the footsteps of Planet Earth and Life, this epic eight-part blockbuster is a breathtaking celebration of the amazing, complex, profound and sometimes challenging relationship between humankind and nature. Humans are the most successful species on the planet. From the frozen Arctic to steamy rainforests, from tiny islands in vast oceans to parched deserts, people have found remarkable ways to adapt and survive. We’ve done this by harnessing our immense courage and ingenuity, learning to live with and utilize the other creatures with which we share these wild places. Human Planet weaves together eighty inspiring stories, many never told before, set to a globally-influenced soundtrack by award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney. Each episode focuses on a particular habitat and reveals how its people have created astonishing solutions in the face of extreme adversity. Finally we visit the urban jungle, where most of us now live, and discover why the...

Chicago – The team behind the riveting and best-selling “Planet Earth” and “Life” have produced another multi-part documentary series that will show off your HDTV in ways you probably haven’t seen since the in-store demonstration. “Human Planet” is a mostly-riveting examination of the way we interact with the world around us, featuring unique stories and personalities unlike any documentary you’ve ever seen.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

One of the most remarkable elements of “Planet Earth” (a must-own for anyone with a Blu-ray player) was the display of corners of the world and the creatures that lived there in ways that had never been seen before. Throughout the documentary, one was constantly asking “How did they get that shot?” It was a technical masterpiece that brought our planet to life in ways that only modern technology like High-Definition possibly could. And it focused on the creatures of this planet that serve as...

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)

While I don’t think it was one of their better seasons, there was still much to enjoy in South Park: The Complete Fourteenth Season (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$57.99 Srp), and even more so as both Trey & Matt return for their patented mini-commentaries on all of the episodes, deleted scenes, and a bonus episode.

If you’re in to Diy and want to extend it to your electronic devices,...

Even if you’re not one of those people who sits around watching Discovery HD (mostly because it’s still the best way to use your HD cable subscription), there’s no denying that there’s something wondrous about seeing the wild splendor of our home planet. And no one seems to capture it with the grace and intimacy of the BBC. Their work on Planet Earth and The Blue Planet (among others) has changed forever the scope by which we view our own world, and in turn brought us closer to the world around us. But what happens when they turn that lens inward, focusing on humanity’s journey through this wild world? We get Human Planet, their most ambitious series to date. Feature Presentation Narrated by the soothing, sage-like voice of John Hurt, Human Planet is an 8-episode series centered upon man’s interaction with nature; all the beauty and all the danger. It...

This Week in Blu-ray we take a look at some new educational material from the BBC in the form of Human Planet, but it’s not without some high drama. We also take a walk with Terry Gilliam through the mind of Hunter S. Thompson. Again, not without some high drama. And there’s a quick sidestep into the world of South Park. High drama ensues. And finally there’s no high drama in the crime thriller Blood Out, not to be confused with the far better Brian De Palma film Blow Out, which also streets this week. It’s a lot of drama and a few laughs this week as we comb through the best and worst of this week’s Blu-ray releases. Human Planet There will be a much more in-depth review of this title coming soon, as I have so much to say about what the BBC has done with Human Planet. For...

Despite Tyler Perry’s remarkably consistent appeal to churchgoing audiences, his latest film “Madea’s Big Happy Family” didn’t quite live up to his previous films’ box office demolition derby: it came in second to “Rio,” Fox’s family-friendly adventure about a romance between two beautiful Brazilian birds. All that really means, however, is that audiences are more interested than even in markedly different sorts of entertainment, which is why we’ve chosen an especially eclectic collection of home video choices this week.

I’ve always felt that live-action musicals, with literally five exceptions*, are not for me. The idea that a group of strangers could suddenly burst into simultaneous song and dance with no prior opportunity to rehearse is simply ridiculous. And where’s the music coming from anyway? Preposterous. Armed with that kind of attitude it seems obvious that I would avoid any effort to watch a Bollywood film… at least until this week. In addition to my surprising Pick Of the Week other new titles hitting the street today include the BBC’s Human Planet series, the forty-year-old awesomely-titled softcore flick The Lickerish Quartet, the killer boar movie Chawz, and many more. (*The only great movie musicals are: Happiness Of the Katakuris, Meet the Feebles, The Muppet Movie, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and The Wizard Of Oz) If you see something you like, click on the image to buy it from Amazon. 3 Idiots...

Wow, okay, so... I literally have nothing for you this week. The biggest releases we have are South Park: Season 14 and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Criterion for Blu-Ray. I've never even heard of the three movies under New Releases, and IMDb didn't have anything on the first one. Very strange week. There's quite a few more box sets to check out, and for the documentary lovers, Human Planet (BBC) is out as well.

This week has very little to get excited about, but it does include the Criterion release of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which has enough new material to keep you occupied until next week.

The BBC nature documentary franchise continues with Human Planet, and it’s just in time to compete with Disneynature’s theatrically-released African Cats. Needless to say, if you love nature-based documentaries, you’ll be entertained this week.

The following titles are now available on DVD and Blu-ray.

-

New Releases

Human Planet - BBC has become the Pixar of nature documentaries with a total stranglehold on the genre. Even as Disneynature’s impressive African Cats rolls out in theaters this week, BBC answers right back with the home video release of its latest ...

Click to continue reading DVD/Blu-ray Breakdown: April 26, 2011...

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed

Blow Out (Criterion Collection) I will hopefully have my review of this one finished tomorrow around noon -- before my screening of Hobo with a Shotgun -- but I will say right now this is a title worthy of your consideration. The best and obvious comparisons are Antonioni's Blow Up and Coppola's The Conversation, at least in terms of genre. I had never seen this film before and the opening sequence had me completely baffled and as it moves forward the way it turns into just as much a film about filmmaking as it is a paranoid thriller is quite exciting, but more on that soon enough...

As far as features are concerned there's a solid hour-long interview with Noah Baumbach interviewing director Brian De Palma and I loved the inclusion of De Palma's Murder a la Mod, an...

I thought about not writing Pajiba After Dark today because that would take valuable time away from eating Starburst jellybeans and Cadbury eggs, but "Game of Thrones" is on and "Treme" is coming back and I figured all of you would need a place to discuss these things. So really, it's all for you. I hope all of you celebrating today are having a good time and I hope those of you who aren't celebrating are still having a good Sunday and are poised to take advantage of cheap, egg and/or bunny themed candy starting tomorrow. Here's your Sunday night TV:

7:00pm: "60 Minutes" on CBS

"Dateline: NBC" on NBC

"Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time" on TLC. Really? Look, I get all the gushing and cutesy coverage of William and Kate but there's nothing really adorable about Charles and Diana's marriage. It was basically arranged around the fact that she was attractive,...

Filed under: TV Previews

Here's tonight's lineup of new shows and events (all times Eastern). Check your local TV listings for additional information.

* = Series/Season Premiere

** = Series/Season Finale

# = New Day/Time

7:00 to 8:00

CBS: '60 Minutes'

NBC: 'Dateline'

TLC: 'Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time' -- (120 minutes)

TNT: 'NBA Playoffs' -- Game 4 between the Magic and the Hawks

Versus: 'NHL Playoffs' -- 10:30 start for the sixth game between the Canucks and Blackhawks

8:00 to 9:00

ABC: 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'

CBS: 'The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business'

NBC: 'America's Next Great Restaurant'

Bet: 'The Family Crews'

Discovery: 'Human Planet'

Espn: 'Sunday Night Baseball' -- The Cincinnati Reds against the St. Louis Cardinals

Food Network: 'Food Network Challenge'

G4: 'Web Soup'

Own: 'Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes'

Style: 'Ruby'

Travel: 'Bert the Conqueror'

VH1: 'Mob Wives'

The rest...

You know those incredible looking nature documentaries Best Buy, or any other generic electronics and appliance store, has playing on those huge overpriced HDTVs it's trying to sell? Chances are they're from the BBCs increasingly large selection of superbly filmed series (like Planet Earth or Life) that highlights one aspect or another of the amazing planet we live on. Planet Earth was epic in its undertaking and Life was utterly breathtaking, and now they've gone and done it again with their series Human Planet, which started on April 17th and is running just three more nights on the Discovery Channel at 7pm (until the 24th). If you miss it now, you can buy (or rent) it on DVD and Blu-ray as of the 26th (just two days later), but if you can watch it right now just by turning on the TV...

Before we move on, here's the trailer, just to give you a taste.

If you were a fan of “Planet Earth” and “Life”, then you’ll love “Human Planet”, which takes an in-depth look at this giant ball of wax we call home — and all the colorful weirdos that dwells on it. BBC Earth’s “Human Planet” doesn’t arrive on Blu-ray and DVD until April 26th, but if you take a trip to the show’s Facebook page now, you can enter to win Blu-ray/DVD copies, framed photos, and award winning books every week, with one lucky dog going home with a “Human Planet” grand prize pack. “Human Planet” will debut on Blu-ray and DVD April 26th, just two days after the broadcast conclusion. You can catch the series on the Discovery Channel Sundays at 8pm.

Well, Sunday night TV keeps getting better and better. Tonight we have the premiere of "Game of Thrones" which is based on one of those book series that seems to divide people evenly between those who adore it and those who haven't read a single word. I'm in the second group so that's all I'll say about that and leave the real discussion to those of you who know what you're talking about. "The Killing" is on, which I'm enjoying so far though I have no real theories as to who is guilty. To me, those conversations defeat the point of these shows where the real fun is watching the whole thing unfold rather than turning it into some sort of competitive guessing game. I also find guessing who the killer is makes you less open to new information and hints because you end up just looking for clues that confirm your conclusion.

Filed under: TV Previews

Here's tonight's lineup of new shows and events (all times Eastern). Check your local TV listings for additional information.

* = Series/Season Premiere

** = Series/Season Finale

# = New Day/Time

Very busy Sunday night! If you have multiple DVRs you may want to set them all.

7:00 to 8:00

ABC: 'America's Funniest Home Videos'

CBS: '60 Minutes'

NBC: 'Dateline'

Animal Planet: 'Wild Kingdom'

Hallmark: 'Martha's Eggcellent Easter'

TNT: 'NBA Playoff' -- Game 1 between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics

8:00 to 9:00

ABC: 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'

CBS: 'Amazing Race: Unfinished Business'

Fox: 'American Dad!' -- 8:30 start

NBC: 'America's Next Great Restaurant'

PBS: 'Nature'

Bet: 'The Family Crews'

Discovery: 'Human Planet'

Espn: 'Mlb Baseball' -- The Texas Rangers at the New York Yankees

Food Network: 'Food Network Challenge'

Lifetime Movie Network: 'Committed'...

Happy Friday, my loves! Any internet writer will tell you that the scarcity of SNL clips on the internet is killer. It's eeevil. Well Splitsider has hit the mother lode with this Complete History of Celebrity Jeopardy (with clips!). Oh, Darrell Hammond, you national treasure. (Splitsider)

This Celebitchy post has not only some prize Goop smuggery, but also leaks Gwyneth's Adele cover. That's right. . . Gwyneth's covering Adele on "Glee." Rev up your arm saws. (Celebitchy)

An Evil Dead remake? Booo! Where's my boom stick?!? Oh, Bruce Campbell approved? Hmm. Whoa, The Mary Sue Proposes Nathan Fillion As Ash!?! That's smart, that's S-Mart. (The Mary Sue)

Speaking of S-mart, here is a sneak peak at some glorious book cover prints. Somebody get me that Cthulhu one. Now. (G 1988)

Speaking of lit-rah-toore, this clever tumblr, sent to me by lady lobo, combines apt literary quotes with TV screen caps. I've included her...

We’ve just received our Human Planet Blu-ray from BBC and I can’t begin to express how excited I am to dive into this series.

For starters, when I opened up the FedEx Package and took out the Blu-ray, I was immediately amazed by the holographic box art. It’s a giant human eye, which feels like it’s staring right at you no matter where you turn.

Secondly, I didn’t realize before, but John Hurt of Harry Potter fame does the narration. If you’re as much of a Potter fanboy as me, you probably picked up the Blu-ray release the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. The home video came with an exclusive clip of Hurt’s scene as Mr. Ollivander in the upcoming J.K. Rowling finale Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. It’s such an amazing scene that was leaked out earlier this month on the Internet.

Human Planet has picked up seven nominations for the BAFTA Television Craft Awards. The documentary series, which was narrated by John Hurt, was honoured in the categories for 'Director Factual' and 'Editing Factual'. The show also picked up two nods for 'Sound Factual' and three for 'Photography Factual'. Meanwhile, dramas Any Human Heart, Downton Abbey and Eric And Ernie received five nominations each. Sherlock, This Is England '86 and Brian Cox's series Wonders of the Solar System each picked up three. In the 'Writer' (more)...

This column is late tonight, for reasons I'm not at liberty to disclose, but it's a shame because there's actually a lot of good TV on tonight. Although it's bittersweet, because some of it is due to mini series that are ending, and despite there being more good TV on, there's still the usual amount of awful television. But it's much easier to avoid when you've got something that will distract you from that. Anyway, here's your Sunday night TV and apologies for being late in posting it:

7:00pm: "60 Minutes" on CBS

"Dateline NBC" on NBC

"Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" on Animal Planet

7:30pm: "American Dad" on Fox

8:00pm: "The Amazing Race" on CBS

"America's Next Great Restaurant" on NBC

"Bert the Conquerer" on Travel. It says Bert will be conquering Florida this week so either I don't actually understand the premise of this show or...

This year, April brings more than rain and taxes: lots of series premieres! We've compiled a guide to several of the month's new shows.from HBO's buzzed-about Game of Thrones to Discovery's Human Planet to E!'s latest Karadashian whatever-it-is.and ranked each one on our super high-tech TV.com Excite-o-Meter. Here's the heads up on what looks good, what looks bad, and what looks terribly, horribly ugly.

{ Friday, April 1 }

Chaos (8Pm, CBS)

...  More >>...

Discovery Channel has released the new U.S. promo for Human Planet. For the six-part series, which makes its U.S. premiere on Discovery Channel Sunday, April 10, 17 and 24 from 8-10Pm Et/Pt each night, the makers of Planet Earth and Life reverse the spotlight on a unique species -- humans. Human Planet is the latest blockbuster documentary series from BBC Earth. Camera crews travelled to 75 locations from the Arctic to equatorial jungles and big cities and recorded never-before-seen stories of people surviving in some of the harshest environments imaginable.

Cyrus

DVD & Blu-ray, 20th Century Fox

This looked like a lot of fun going by the trailers, didn't it? There were John C Reilly and Jonah Hill arguing and fighting with each other, looking like they were delivering another charming, hilarious comedy like Walk Hard or Superbad. Well, those trailers were misleading, and you can't really blame them for that; it's a bit of a hard sell, this movie. While the film does have quite a few moments of comedy, it has many more of profound uneasiness. It's closer to that classic of dark, uncomfortable indie comedy, Chuck & Buck, than it is to the relatively loose and easy-going Judd Apatow comedies the leads are better known for. Reilly plays John, a nice but lonely man, several years divorced, who falls for the similarly single Marisa Tomei. She still has her grown-up (physically, anyway) son, Cyrus (played by Hill) living with her.