Anxiously awaiting season premieres of ‘The OA,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The 100’

My TV viewing schedule is freeing up as many of the shows I like have been canceled or are ending their runs. There are others that I’ve lost interest in (I’m referring mostly to you “Supernatural.”) That means more time for new shows.
The midseason TV lineup holds a lot of promise for new and returning genre shows. The genre I’m interested in is science-fiction, fantasy and horror.
Among returning shows, I’m most excited to watch “The OA” (Netflix), “Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger” (Freeform), “Game of Thrones” (HBO), “The 100” (CW) and “iZombie” (CW).

• “The OA” returns for its second season, which it calls “Part 2,” on March 22.
• “Cloak and Dagger” begins its second season on April 4.
• “Game of Thrones” starts its eighth and final season on April 14.
• “The 100” will premiere its sixth season and the start of “Book Two” on April 30.
• “iZombie” is back for a fifth and final season on May 2.

Netflix cleared up my viewing roster by canceling shows I like such as “Marvel’s Daredevil” and “Travelers.”
Of the new shows premiering this season, only “The Passage” (Fox) kept my interest. It’s still on my viewing list, but hasn’t been renewed for a second season yet. (Fingers crossed.) I gave “Manifest” (NBC) a try but found it slow and silly.
Befitting the “peak TV” era, there are lots of new genre shows premiering soon.
Here are several that I want to check out:

• “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX) premieres on March 27. It’s an American comedy series based on the 2014 mockumentary about a group of vampires living together in New Zealand.
• “Osmosis” (Netflix) bows on March 29. Here’s the official synopsis: “Paris, in the near future. Technology has conquered the last frontier: decoding true love. Digging deep into its user’s brain data, the new dating app Osmosis can find a perfect match with 100% accuracy, turning the concept of absolute soulmate into a reality. But is there a price to pay when letting an algorithm decide who you will love, forever and ever?”
• “Hanna” (Amazon Prime Video) premieres on March 29. It is an adaptation of the 2011 movie about a girl raised in the wilderness by her father to be an assassin.
• “Black Summer” (Netflix) launches on April 11. It’s a series set in the “Z Nation” universe, taking place early in the zombie apocalypse.
• “NOS4A2” (AMC), pronounced “Nosferatu,” as in the blood-sucking vampire, premieres on April 30. It’s based on a 2013 novel.

Photo: Poster from season one of “The OA.”

Replacing men with women in movies and TV shows

The gender-flipping trend in Hollywood is continuing. More movies and TV shows are switching roles originally written for men to roles for women.
Since my last update on the trend in November, more instances have occurred.
What follows is a roundup of the latest gender-flipped movies and TV shows.

• A gender-flipped remake of the 1988 comedy “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” opens in theaters on May 10. The new film, “The Hustle,” stars Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson. The original starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin.
• A female-led spinoff of the “Bad Boys” franchise will premiere as a TV series on May 13 on Charter Communications’ Spectrum Originals. The series, “L.A.’s Finest” stars Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba.
• For the U.S. remake of the 2006 Danish drama “After the Wedding,” the filmmakers changed two main characters from male to female. The 2019 remake stars Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams.
• Universal Pictures is moving ahead with an all-female “Fast & Furious” spinoff film. Franchise star Vin Diesel announced the news in January.
• Sony is looking to do a female-led reboot of the “Jump Street” movie series. Tiffany Haddish and Zendaya are attached to star in “24 Jump Street.”
• STX Entertainment is working on a female-led reboot of the “Rush Hour” film series. Chinese actress Bingbing Li (“The Meg”) reportedly has been offered a lead role.
• A TV series remake of the 1987 horror-comedy “The Lost Boys” is currently in development for the CW. The series replaces the Frog Brothers of the original film with the Frog Sisters.

Photo: Movie poster from “The Hustle.”

Clock ticking for DVDs, Blu-ray Discs

The recent announcement that Samsung plans to stop making Blu-ray Disc players has people talking about the end of physical media for movies and other videos.
People prefer the convenience of streaming video to having to pop in a disc to watch a movie. But the loss of physical media for movies will mean changes to how readily available those films will be to consumers.
The rise of streaming video services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu has steered people away from DVDs and high-definition Blu-ray Discs. The trend has led to lower sales of movies and TV series on disc because people can access a wide selection on demand from streaming services.
But you can’t always count on streaming services to have specific movies or TV shows. You have to check different services or use a search tool like JustWatch or Reelgood.
In the past, you could count on Netflix’s DVD service to be the great equalizer. It had practically every movie you could think of in its vast library. Or you could always buy video discs on Amazon. But many movies and TV series aren’t being released on disc anymore.
With new video services on the way from Walt Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal things are about to get a lot more complicated for video fans. And discs probably won’t be around much longer to help out.

Related articles:

Samsung to stop making Blu-ray players (Cnet; Feb. 15, 2019)

Samsung Halting Blu-ray Disc Player Production (Media Play News; Feb. 16, 2019)

Another blow to Blu-ray: Samsung will no longer make Blu-ray players for the US (Ars Technica; Feb. 18, 2019)

Samsung kills Blu-ray players. Blame streaming, smart TVs and Apple (Cnet; Feb. 23, 2019)

The end of Blu-ray (ZDnet; Feb. 25, 2019)