TeleChimp | TV Journalism

Tom Hanks’ Playtone production company is producing a six-season adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s award winning novel “American Gods” for HBO.

The series, currently in development, is one of a handful of projects Hanks’ production company is working on.

Each season of the series, expected to debut in 2013; will consist of 10-12 episodes with a budget of $35-40 million per season.

“American Gods,” published in 2001, surmises the existence of gods and mythological entities is dependent on whether we believe in them. The book presents a landscape where the power of these gods wanes resulting from a lack of belief in the old gods in favor of the gods of the contemporary era – media, celebrity, technology and drugs.

The novel itself is a blend of Americana, fantasy, ancient lore and modern mythology, all centering on a mysterious character named Shadow.

“There are some crazy things in there. We’ll probably be doing more effects in there than it’s been done on a television series,” Gary Goetzman, Hanks’ Playtone partner, told the Hollywood Reporter

The report said the series will delve into the rich, religious folklore from the novelization and will feature deities from Greek and Nordic mythology, in addition to the Judeo-Christian monotheistic God.

The Playtone Company, founded by Hanks and Goetzman in 1996, is an American production company heavily involved in film and television, having produced Castaway, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Mamma Mia, My Big Fat Greek Life and Band of Brothers, in addition to various television and film soundtracks in the past.

The company’s future projects include Major Matt Mason, a live-action family film about space adventure, as well as a film version of the Broadway musical American Idiot, based off the 2003 Green Day album of the same name.

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HBO has successfully launched HBO GO, a mobile streaming service for current subscribers which is now available to U.S subscribers.    Using HBO GO mobile streaming service users of compatible PC’s, IOS devices and Android devices are able to stream the HBO content over 3G or WiFi connections.

Here is the report how HBO describes this service:

HBO GO is a mobile streaming service which is offered through participating television providers that gives you unlimited access to HBO on your computer and mobile devices. With HBO GO, you can watch your favorite HBO Original Series, blockbuster movies, sports, comedies and documentaries – whenever and wherever you want.

What about the new shows on HBO GO?

Yes, new HBO Original Series and blockbuster movies will be available on HBO GO, as well as hundreds of titles – from sports and documentaries to award-winning HBO original programming.

Do I need to subscribe to HBO to watch shows on HBO GO?

Yes, to watch shows on HBO GO you need an HBO subscription through a participating television provider.

Does HBO GO cost anything?

No, HBO GO is free as part of your HBO subscription and is available through participating television providers.

Is HBO GO available internationally?

No, HBO GO is only accessible in the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska.

Can I purchase HBO GO shows on a pay-per-view basis?

No, HBO GO does not offer pay-per-view. However, as part of your HBO GO subscription, you have access to hundreds of titles to watch every month.

What is required to sign up for HBO GO?

To sign up for HBO GO, you will need an HBO subscription through a participating television provider and the username and password from your television provider account. If you are using a computer to access HBO GO, you will need a high-speed Internet connection.

On which devices is HBO GO available?

HBO GO is available on a computer with a high-speed Internet connection and on the iPad, iPhone and Android smartphones. To access HBO GO you need an HBO subscription through a participating television provider.

What are the computer system requirements to access HBO GO from my computer?

HBO GO requires the following minimum system requirements: 1) An Adobe Flash Player with version 10.0 or higher. 2) An Internet connection of 3.0Mbps or greater (for HD content). 3) For Windows: An Intel Pentium 4 3GHz processor (or equivalent) with 512MB RAM/128MB of VRAM. 4) For a Mac: An Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz or faster processor, 512MB of RAM/128MB of VRAM. To check if you have the most recent version of Adobe Flash Player, go to www.adobe.com.

According to the HBO GO website, the following providers will be there: AT&T, Charter, Xfinity (Comcast), Cox, DirecTV, Dish Network, SuddenLink and Verizon.

You can set watch lists for your shows and new episodes will automatically appear.  Again from the HBO GO website:

How does the Watchlist work?

The Watchlist allows the subscriber to create a personalized list of favorite shows available on HBO GO. The listed items in your Watchlist will remain the same irrespective of the fact that log in to the HBO GO from a different computer or mobile device. Shows will remain in your Watchlist until you remove or delete them, or they expire.

Well I am a big time HBO fan and HBO GO is just the perfect thing for people like me. It looks like a decent way to check out our favs.  Just extend your subscriptions now..!

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Amanda Seyfried will make a special appearance on HBO’s Big Love returns for the last episode of the race five seasons of the show, according to TVGuide.

Seyfried has played the role of Sarah in the show for four seasons, but at the end of the season four races of his character with her husband Scott Quittman (played by Aaron Paul, who will also return for the final).

Season five starts January 16th with the last episode (which was filmed in mid-December) in the air in March. Seyfried has played Sophie Sheridan in the film adaptation of the musical Mamma Mia! With the additional film credits, including Dear John letters to Julie and the forthcoming Red Riding Hood

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CHICAGO – Just in time for holidays, the excellent HBO’s “Deadwood” was chosen to introduce the complete series Blu-ray catalog for the major television networks over the last twenty years. Very few HBO series are available in the full range of HD sets HBO (“Band of Brothers,” “Rome”, “The Pacific”) and all the fans of “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and “Six Feet Under “may finally be the season next vacation, this masterpiece belongs to David Milch.

The 36 episodes of Milch’s brilliant deconstruction of the TV Western have been segmented into 13 discs – four per season and a bonus disc. Basically, this is what the HD translation was published two years ago on the standard disk. If you are still dreaming, it is often said that the film, which would apply to all ends of the canceled-too-soon as the program is needed to keep on dreaming.

One of the best programs of the ’00s is named after the real American frontier town that serves as the dramatic backdrop for a convergence of law, greed, love, the past, and the future. Deadwood was the first melting pot, a place where businessmen, soldiers, Chinese laborers, prostitutes, and gunfighters all struggled to survive. Milch’s incredible drama was riveting from first episode to last, not just a great TV Western but one of the best of its genre of any medium, film and fiction included.

“Deadwood” won multiple awards, including Emmys (all technical although actors Brad Dourif, Robin Weigert, and Ian McShane were nominated) and a Peabody Award, and was massively critically-acclaimed but it fell victim to something of a house cleaning at HBO as they were trying to find their identity at the end of the ’00s and cutting high-budget programming. Series like “Carnivale,” “Rome,” and “Deadwood” were all cut tragically-short.

Everything you’d find in the individual season sets have been imported to the complete series set along with the new special features available on the 2008 release. The best of that set was “The Meaning of Endings,” a 23-minute discussion with Milch about the controversial end of the show in which the creator walks the set and talks about where he was planning to go in season four. The other features on the extra disc include “The Real Deadwood: Out of the Ashes”, “Q&A With Cast and Creative Team”, “Deadwood 360 Tour”, and “Al Swearengen Audition Reel (as performed by Titus Welliver)”

What more is there to say about “Deadwood” other than that I still miss it? I like what HBO is doing nowadays but they don’t seem to be taking the creative risks that they once did with shows like this one or “Carnivale.” Let’s face it — “True Blood” is fun but it’s a relatively-obvious hit with its mix of sexuality and the genre trend of the day. “Deadwood” was daring, something that I’m not sure HBO is as much as it used to be. It will be again. But we’ll always have these three seasons to remind us of what can be done when a brilliant TV creator is given creative freedom and when a network takes chances.

Deadwood: The whole Series is launched by HBO Home Video and stars Jim Beaver, W. Earl Brown, Timothy Olyphant, Kim Dickens, Brad Dourif, Anna Gunn, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Dayton Callie, John Hawkes, Jeffrey Jones, Paula Malcomson, Leon Rippy, William Sanderson, Robin Weigert, Titus Welliver, Brent Sexton, Bree Seanna Wall and Powers Boothe. It was created by David Milch. It will be Launched on Blu-ray on December 23rd, 2010.CST.

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Gaylord Entertainment Co. has received a good addition to HBO as a prelude to the Saturday night’s title fight between Manny Paquiao and Antonio Margarito.

It took place during the last episode of HBO “24 / 7 Paquiao-Margarito,”series with two boxers preparing to fight at Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas. Both fighters remained at the Gaylord Texan in the last week before the fight, which was often mentioned in the show. Margarito is a stage of work in a gym Gaylord Texan around 1 am, shortly after his arrival at the airport. There were also some outside shots of buses with the company logo.

Pacquiao won the fight in a unanimous decision to punish Margarito after round, to win his eighth title in different weight class eighth. Margarito battered with a swollen face and cuts around his eyes must have been quite a sight when checking the Gaylord Texan.

If Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will never accept a fight, maybe Nashville could jump into the game trying to hold the event.

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It seems that the first crew “Seinfeld” has found a new home at HBO. While Larry David is starring in a premium cable channel, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in the last seven seasons, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is in talks to bring in another comedy network.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the concert of a new potential Dreyfus’ is called “Veep,” series, which follows a woman becomes vice president and realizes that she might be over her head. Show will be written by comedian and satirist Armando Iannucci.

Although all of the former “Seinfeld” actors have acted in the difference between projects, because they got a final set of bow, it appears that Dreyfus has experienced the most success. The actress was nominated for five Emmy Awards for his latest comedy,” The New Adventures of Old Christine,” taking home the statue in 2006.

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HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg Pledging to “enter the mainstream sports fan back to the” boxing.

In a discussion with Funhouse, Greenburg is pleased to update on upcoming events and HBO boxing fans to wonder on the beginning of a rebirth for the sport.

Greenburg pointed to a flurry of future HBO events that point out both boxing’s rising popularity and that his company is prepared to take benefit of the developments.

“I think that the fall line-up is kind of a statement that we’re back, and that we’re ready,” he said.  “We gave everyone a little bit of a break at the beginning of the football season, and through the World Series.  But I think that we’re gearing up and that it’s the rebirth of boxing in a way,” said Greenburg. “We really want to get the mainstream sports fan back.”

Some upcoming HBO cards include the November 13 mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, which will be on pay-per-view, and a November 27 contest between Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis.

Greenburg assumed the role of liaison when negotiations for a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather peaked, but unofficially resigned from the position when it was clear no fight would be made.  Nevertheless he remains hopeful of Pacquiao-Mayweather in 2011, a fight that would likely break all-time records in terms of profits.

On the opportunity of Pacquiao-Mayweather in 2011, Greenburg said: “I think that a lot of things need to fall into place for that fight to happen. First and primary, Manny Pacquiao has to live on Nov. 13 against a hard, big man in Antonio Margarito.  And then, Floyd Mayweather has to fresh up his personal life and the issues and whatever is going on in Las Vegas and then gets back to the business of boxing.”

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The Pacific is one of the most likely home entertainments releases of the Year come on the perfect holiday time. The primers day and launching date of the first DVD and Blu-ray is November 2, 2010.

The six-disc DVD and Blu-ray of “The Pacific” include all of the acclaimed 10-part mini-series, with lots of exciting bonus material for the suggested retail price of $ 79.99 and $99.98 respectively.

Hailed by critics nationwide as “brilliant” (Entertainment Weekly), “universally excellent” (Los Angeles Times), and “magnificent; a bloody masterpiece” (TV Guide), The Pacific is a Playtone and DreamWorks production executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the team behind the Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, the best selling TV on DVD of all time. Hanks and Goetzman also executive produced the HBO miniseries John Adams, which won a record-breaking 13 Emmys in 2008.

The Pacific tracks the real-life journeys of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale, The Departed), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello, The Sensation of Sight) and John Basilone (Jon Seda, Close to Home) – across the vast canvas of the Pacific theater during World War II. The miniseries follows these men and their fellow Marines from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima, through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

The Pacific on DVD is overflowing with exclusive and informative content that will further enrich the audience’s understanding of the war. The viewer will learn more about the events of the Pacific theater and the real Marines depicted in the miniseries, and will have access to a more in-depth look at the making of this epic event. Features include:

“Historical Backgrounds” – the five-minute prologues that set the stage for each episode and additional historical footage narrated by Tom Hanks.

“Making The Pacific” – go behind the scenes and take an inside look at the making of this epic, 10-part miniseries.

“Profiles of The Pacific” – delve into the lives of the real Marines featured in The Pacific. Get a personal perspective on their families, their war experience and their lives after the war in these intimate portraits.

“Anatomy of The Pacific War” – explores the historical influences and civilizes perceptions that led to the cruel violence in the Pacific theater of World War II.

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Critics have been decrying the inventive decline of Hollywood pretty much since D.W. Griffith left the scene. “It’s just that the most sophisticated stuff is showing up on TV screens”, Edward Jay Epstein says.

Epstein tells NPR’s Guy Raz,”We’ve had a role reversal”. “Now, people go to television, especially pay television and premiere cable television, to watch their favorite programs like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire and Damages. And they go to movies to see comic books: Spiderman, Batman, Superman and Avatar.”

Epstein wrote the book The Hollywood Economist: the Hidden Financial Reality behind the Movies. He says the dichotomy in Hollywood these days is a product of fundamentally different business realities between the big and small screens.

“The movie business is basically driven by marketing departments that have only one audience that they can guarantee to turn out on Friday and Saturday nights,” he says. “And that audience is teenagers and youth.

“Television, on the other hand, especially pay television, runs on a completely different business model. They have to stop people from canceling their subscriptions. So they have to reach the head of the household, who pays the bills. … So they have basically put more and more money into original programming to keep the adult audience paying the bill.”

The fundamental mission of a network like HBO — which pioneered original dramas on cable with The Sopranos, The Wire and now Boardwalk Empire — isn’t to make “art” or even to build viewer numbers.

“According to the top HBO executive ” Epstein says, “that they would rather have a program that had very low viewership but highest critical acclaim, especially in The New York Times and elite media, because when people read those kind of stories about The Sopranos or The Wire, their reaction is, ‘We cannot give this up!’ “

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Actor Al Pacino will depict record producer Phil Spector in a film presently being written by writer/director David Mamet for HBO Films.

Al Pacino won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in HBO’s You Don’t Know Jack, about the physician convicted for assisted suicide. Pacino’s agent said, “He just saw a very motivating character to play, and he likes the receptivity of Barry [Levinson] and David [Mamet],” reported by the New York Times.

Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Diner and Bugsy) will produce the film. He also produced and directed the film Jack.

It was also announced yesterday that HBO will adapt the bestselling Wall Street exposé book Too Big to Fail, about the 2008 financial crisis, with an all-star cast.

On this HBO Movies Paul Giamatti will play US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Billy Crudup will appear as Timothy Geithner, US Secretary of the Treasury. The line-up also includes Tony Shalhoub, William Hurt, James Woods, Ed Asner, Cynthia Nixon and Curtis Hanson will direct.

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