Dark Matter, on Syfy
When a golden opportunity arises, the gang is forced into a tough predicament. As a result, they must team up with another crew as they struggle to complete a dangerous assignment. Roger Cross, Marc Bendavid and Jodelle Ferland star in this sci-fi series.
Q: I'm trying to find the name of an old horror movie starring Ben Affleck. It was based on a Stephen King book or something, and it was about a town that had hundreds of people going missing because of some weird entity.
The movie you're looking for is 1998's "Phantoms," and you may have had trouble finding it because the book wasn't penned by Stephen King but by his horror-writing colleague Dean Koontz.
Ben Affleck may have gotten most of the press for the film, having burst on to the film scene a year earlier with his Oscar-winning hit "Good Will Hunting," but "Phantoms" actually featured a strong ensemble cast.
Married, on FX
When it comes time to plan a family vacation, Russ (Nat Faxon) and Lina (Judy Greer) go all out. Now in its second season, this comedy chronicles the lives of a husband and wife struggling to find romance in the day-to-day struggle of raising a family.
This is real life: HBO's new miniseries examines the fight to desegregate 1980s Yonkers
Oscar Isaac stars in “Show Me a Hero”
It’s not always easy being the man in charge. While it’s true that being a leader gives a person a fair amount of power, it can be a tough thing to wield -- and keeping everyone beneath you happy is a near-impossible task.
Mr. Robinson, on NBC
Craig (Craig Robinson) is determined to inspire his students, who think his high school music class will be an easy "A." Peri Gilpin co-stars as Christine, the strict principal who doesn't appreciate Mr. Robinson's unconventional teaching style.
Q: For the past few weeks, "American Odyssey" hasn't been on. The story was not over, so I can't believe it would be taken off without explanation. Could you please tell me why?
Actually, the first season's story was over -- the final episode you saw was the season finale -- however, you're right that the show's larger story was not.
It's part of the cruelty of serialized storytelling on TV that it left you hanging at the end of the first season, without knowing if it would get a chance to rescue you from the cliff with a second. And NBC decided not to give it the chance -- "American Odyssey" has been canceled.
Face Off, on Syfy
Real-life couples are transformed into whimsically undead duos in this special 100th episode. Then, recently ordained, McKenzie Westmore marries the couples who recite their vows in front of friends and family.
Q: Whenever an actor from a nighttime drama is on a talk show, they lament having to work six days a week, 12-plus hours each day to complete their one weekly show. Whereas, shows like "The Young and the Restless" produce five such shows each week. My que
"We have to be better and more efficient. That's the way it is, we work as smart as we can." That's the short answer, provided by former "Young and the Restless" supervising producer and director Noel Maxam in a 2008 interview posted on the Directors Guild of America website.
Weekly shows, as you point out, devote more time to fewer episodes, which means multiple takes, and lots of time spent on setting, lighting and all the rest of the setup.
American Ninja Warrior, on NBC
Former NFL player Akbar Gbaja-Biamila brings viewers the action as competitors tackle one of the world's most challenging obstacle courses in this two-hour edition. This season, more than 700 contestants will test their mettle against the course in the hopes of bringing home $500,000.
New Releases for the week of August 9 - 15
Hot Pursuit
Officer Rose Cooper (Witherspoon) takes her job very seriously. Her intensity has gotten her into trouble on the job and often carries over into her personal life. When she's finally given an important assignment, her first since her last major incident, she eagerly leaps at the opportunity to prove herself capable of restraint. She and another officer are tasked with picking up a member of a drug cartel (Laresca) who's become an informant and is set to testify against the cartel's kingpin. When they arrive at the informant's house, though, they're ambushed by thugs who kill both her partner and the informant. With the hit men in hot pursuit, Cooper and Daniella (Vergara), the informant's stunning wife, flee for their lives in a high-speed chase across Texas.
Director: Anne Fletcher. Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley, Vincent Laresca. 2015. 87 min. Action.
Unfriended
Laura (Sossaman) was one of the most popular girls at her high school, until a humiliating video of her was posted online. She committed suicide soon after, and, exactly one year later, something strange starts happening to her former friend Blaire (Hennig). When Blaire and her friends start up a chat together online, a mysterious person joins their Skype conversation, claiming to be Laura. While the friends at first believe it to be a prank, the person claiming to be Laura knows things that only she could know and threatens to kill one of them if they don't do what she says.
Director: Levan Gabriadze. Stars: Shelley Hennig, Heather Sossaman, Moses Storm, Will Peltz, Renee Olstead. 2014. 83 min. Horror.
Patch Town
Jon (Ramsay) is a toy who once had a loving home, but has since been discarded by his adoptive mother. Cast out and depressed, he gets a factory job in a facility where babies are born from heads of cabbage, as is told in Russian folklore. When the life of a line worker in the child factory gets to be too much, though, he flees with his family. The corporation, though, won't let him get away that easily, and sends an evil Child Catcher (Richings) to kidnap the adoptive mother who once rejected him, forcing Jon to choose between her and his family.
Director: Craig Goodwill. Stars: Rob Ramsay, Julian Richings, Zoie Palmer. 2014. 85 min. Adventure.