TV Bits: ‘Perry Mason’, ‘The Detour’, ‘Accepted’, ‘Away’, ‘She’s Gotta Have It’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’

In this edition of TV Bits:

John Lithgow joins HBO’s Perry Mason reboot.
Watch a trailer for the new season of The Detour.
Annapurna will produce a series on the college admissions scandal.
Hilary Swank will head to space for the Netflix series Away.
She’s Gotta Have It season 2 releases its trailer.
A Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience will launch a 20-city tour.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will have its own Black Mirror-style interactive special.

John Lithgow, who was last seen in Pet Sematary warning us that sometimes dead is better, has joined the cast of HBO’s Perry Mason reboot, according to Variety. The new limited series f”ollows the origins of American fiction’s most legendary criminal defense lawyer (Matthew Rhys). When a child kidnapping case breaks down his door, Mason’s relentless pursuit of the truth reveals a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself.” Lithgow will play “Elias Birchard “E.B.” Jonathan, described as a personal attorney at the nadir of his career and a semi-regular employer of Mason. A mentor and a father figure to Mason, E.B. is handed the kind of case he hasn’t seen in years: a high-profile parallel investigation to the LAPD involving a case of child kidnapping.” I can’t say I’m hyped for a Perry Mason reboot, but Lithgow is always great.

The Detour is a series I’ve never heard of before, but it’s back for a new season! The show comes couple Jason Jones and Samantha Bee, and follows the Parker family. In this new season “the Parkers on the lam in Alaska. After months of running, the family finally finds a community of misfits and decides to settle down and start rebuilding their lives. But they’re not out of the woods, as the law isn’t far behind. While Nate and Robin learn to take on new roles in the family, Delilah starts to become a young woman. And Jareb…well he’s still Jareb. Well intentioned, bad parenting is at its best in the Land of the Midnight Sun.” The Detour new season premiere arrives June 18 on TBS.

Well, that was fast. Annapurna has optioned the rights to Accepted, an upcoming book from Melissa Korn and Jen Levitz about the college admissions scandal that involved Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, among others. Per Collider, Annapurna plans to turn the book into a limited series, with American Crime Story writer DV Devincentis handling the script. You have to wonder: will Loughlin and Huffman be characters in the series, and if so, who will play them? Or will the TV adaptation fictionalize matters? We’ll have to wait and see.

Hilary Swank is sticking with Netflix. The actress appears in the upcoming Netflix film I Am Mother, and now she’s set to produce and star in the Netflix series Away. Swank will play “Emma Green, an American astronaut who must leave her husband and teenage daughter behind to command an international space crew embarking upon a treacherous mission. It is a series about hope, humanity and how we need one another if we are to achieve impossible things.” The Path‘s Jessica Goldberg is set to serve as showrunner, writer and executive producer.

The second season of She’s Gotta Have It just dropped a new trailer to get you ready for summer. Inspired by the Spike Lee film, She’s Gotta Have It “offers a timely and topical portrait of rising talents, with free-spirited artist Nola Darling (DeWanda Wise) at the center. Struggling with newfound success this season, against a backdrop of black art and culture, Nola must decide if she will remain true to her creative ideals or give in to the corporate world. Her journey of self-discovery helps transform the lives of those around her, including friend and sometimes lover Mars Blackmon (Anthony Ramos), who sets out to pursue his true passion of music as well as her inner circle of Opal (Ilfenesh Hadera), Greer Childs (Cleo Anthony), Jamie Overstreet (Lyriq Bent), Clorinda Bradford (Margot Bingham), Shemekka Epps (Chyna Layne) and Winnie Win (Fat Joe). Their journey expands to new destinations this season beyond their home base of Fort Greene, the vibrant Brooklyn enclave, that continues to evolve and change as gentrification remakes the neighborhood.” The second season premieres May 24.

The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience is returning. Featuring live music composed by Ramin Djawadi, the experience is kicking off a 20-city tour this fall. Here are the details:

Featuring special appearances by Ramin himself at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in New York City, FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, the tour will stop at notable outdoor venues across North America. Having first conceptualized the tour several years ago, Ramin will be reworking and redeveloping the musical and visual elements of the concert to create a brand new live experience that encompasses fan-favorite pieces from the entirety of Game of Thrones. The tour will include new musical arrangements from the series’ 8th and final season such as the “The Night King” theme, Ramin’s epic 9-minute composition that went viral immediately after debuting on the show.

Tickets for the tour will be available here starting Monday, May 13, 2019, at 10:00am. A full list of cities is below.

September 5, 2019 Syracuse, NY St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
September 6, 2019 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
September 8, 2019 Chicago, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
September 10, 2019 Boston, MA Xfinity Center
September 11, 2019 Hartford, CT XFINITY Theatre
September 12, 2019 Philadelphia, PA The Mann
September 14, 2019 New York, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
September 15, 2019 Washington, DC Jiffy Lube Live
September 17, 2019 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
September 18, 2019 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park
September 20, 2019 Jacksonville, FL Daily’s Place
September 21, 2019 West Palm Beach, FL Coral Sky Amphitheatre
September 22, 2019 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
September 25, 2019 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP
September 26, 2019 Dallas, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
September 27, 2019 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
October 1, 2019 Phoenix, AZ Comerica Theatre
October 3, 2019 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
October 4, 2019 Irvine, CA FivePoint Amphitheatre
October 5, 2019 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has come to an end, with season 4 – which debuted this January – established as the end following cancellation. But the show still has some life in it, and Kimmy will wrap things up in 2020 with something unexpected: a choose-your-own-adventure special. Netflix already did this with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and now they’re going to give it a go again – with a much different series. “Fans will be able to make choices on behalf of our characters, taking different story paths with, of course, different jokes,” said series co-creator Tina Fey (via TV Line). “I think it’s a great fit for our show and will be a great way to officially complete the series.” The CYA format worked well for Black Mirror, but will it work for Kimmy Schmidt?

The post TV Bits: ‘Perry Mason’, ‘The Detour’, ‘Accepted’, ‘Away’, ‘She’s Gotta Have It’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ appeared first on /Film.