The Most Important Paul of the Day
On Monday, MediaWorks announced that Paul Henry will be hosting New Zealand’s first cross-platform breakfast show in 2015. That’s right, Paul Henry will be all over your morning cereal, your drive to work, your radio, your TV, your ears, your eyes, your entire world. MediaWorks are hoping to integrate a digital element as well. This is the PH breakfast singularity. Checkout our extensive coverage here.
Outrageous Casting
The core cast of the Outrageous Fortune prequel Westside Story has been confirmed, and filming commenced early this week. In a buzzy Benjamin Button style move, original cast member Antonia Prebble will be returning to play her character’s grandmother, Rita. Also what a year for David de Latour. After captivating the nation earlier this year as Stephen “Beaver” Donald in the Sunday night sport dramedy The Kick, he has landed the lead role of Young Ted. Other cast members include Dan Musgrove, Esther Stephens, Will Hall, Todd Emerson, Pana Hema-Taylor, Xavier Horan and Sophie Hambleton. The character of Young Wolf has still not been confirmed, looks like the wolf hunt is still on.
The American Horror Story Continues
After the roaring success of AHS: Freak Show which debuted on Sky (Monday, Soho at 9.30pm), FX has confirmed that the show will be back for a fifth season. What will they do next? American Horror Story: Snake Pit? American Horror Story: Under the Bed? It’s anyone’s guess, but the show’s creator Ryan Murphy has quashed the rampant rumours that it will be set in space. Bummer. Next year will be very busy for the Murph, as he is also making a brand new anthology entitled American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson. That one, disappointedly, is not set in space either.
How I Met Your Oscar
The all-singing all-dancing How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris has been confirmed as the host of the 2015 Oscars. Looks like it’s time for Barney Stinson to suit up again. After his Emmys opening performance in 2009, the TV star is sure to be a “legen-(wait for it)-dary” host.
Richard Taylor is Go!
The right honourable glasses wearer Sir Richard Taylor has premiered the first of his 26 half-hour episodes of Thunderbirds Are Go! in Cannes. It was met with an “emotional response”, with many audience members leaving the cinema with wet eyes. Either it’s hayfever season, or the Thunderbirds are looking truly great. Made entirely in Miramar, the series will debut on British ITV in 2015.
Everything is Awesome?
Those Danish block heads at Lego announced this week that they have their eye on television in 2015. And not just any kind of television – reality television. One rumoured idea is that the show will follow the Master Builders aka the designers of the Lego Blocks around their daily job. Proposed working title: The Block. Other easier ideas include Lego: Extreme Makeover and Lego Undercover Boss (easy to change faces/heads).
Changing the Channel on HBO
Next year HBO will be launching an online-only service, making all of their fantastically edgy and downright incredible content available to anyone with an Internet connection. Not only will they use the service to release the newest episodes of Game of Thrones and other big 2015 names, but users will have access to a back catalogue of old relic HBO shows like The Sopranos and The Wire.