HARVEY BEAKS Two-Part Steampunk Themed Musical Special on Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon's HARVEY BEAKS animated television show is featuring a steampunk themed two-part musical special that will debut on Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24, 2016 at 5:30pm (ET/PT) on the cable channel.  Harvey and his friends set out on a brand-new, imaginary and musical journey where they explore the cogs, gears, and fantasy of the world Steamburg.

In Part 1 which premieres on the evening of June 23rd, Harvey imagines he is in a steampunk world, and is blamed for breaking a floating city.  Part 2 follows the next evening of Friday, June 24 where the songs and mystery continue when Harvey continues his quest to fix the floating city, but danger looms around every steamy corner.  This special two-episode story arc will feature four original songs: "Steamburg," "(Here In Our Town Called) Reject Town," "I Can Tell We're Gonna Be Friends" and "Friendship Can Do Anything."



Created and executive produced by C.H. Greenblatt (Chowder), Harvey Beaks follows the life of a big-hearted and big-headed kid and his impetuous two best friends. Together with an odd assortment of townsfolk in their magical forest, they get into all sorts of adventures and trouble. But no matter how ridiculous things get, they always find a way to stay true to themselves.

Visit the Harvey Beaks page on Nick.com or the Nick App to learn more about the show and its characters, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the series. Episodes of Harvey Beaks are available on Nick.com and the Nick App, along with digital download and streaming platforms that include iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, Vudu, Playstation, and Nick On Demand.

BIG HERO 6 animated television series coming to DisneyXD cable channel in 2017

I can honestly say that Walt Disney Animation Studio's 2014 animated motion picture BIG HERO 6 is one of my son's favorite movies and he has anxiously been awaiting news about a possible sequel ever since we went to see it at the theater.  He has all the action figure toys representing the film's cast, has spent numerous hours playing as BIG HERO 6's primary characters Baymax and Hiro characters on the Disney Infinity video game, and has watched the movie over and over again more times than I can count on the dvd we've added to our home video library.  So I find myself with mixed news to share with the boy after receiving an announcement from Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer at Disney Channels Worldwide regarding the future of Big Hero 6 which has a bit of bad news but also plenty of good news for fans of the movie and its characters.

Starting with the bad news first -- it appears there won't be a sequel arriving in movie theaters for BIG HERO 6 in the foreseeable future and maybe not at all.  The good news though is that the adventures of Baymax, Hiro and their aspiring superhero team as the cable channel Disney XD has begun production on a BIG HERO 6 animated television series for kids, tweens and families based upon the Academy Award-winning movie which was based upon a Marvel comic book of the same name.

"Our colleagues at Walt Disney Animation Studios have created a brilliant world, inspired  by Marvel, with vivid, unique characters," Gary Marsh said in his announcement. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to further develop these characters into a world class animated series -- full of fun, action and the kind of endearing storytelling that only Mark McCorkle, Bob Schooley  -- and Baymax -- can deliver."

Emmy Award-winning producers McCorkle and Schooley, creators and executive producers for the Disney Channel's globally successful "Kim Possible" series hope to create another popular hit as executive producers for the BIG HERO 6 animated series on DisneyXD.  Produced by Disney Television Animation, this new series picks up immediately following the events in the feature film, and continues the adventures and friendship of 14-year-old tech genius Hiro and his compassionate, cutting-edge robot Baymax. Alongside Hiro and Baymax on their journey are control freak Wasabi, scientist Honey Lemon, fanboy Fred and no-nonsense Go Go, who together form the legendary superhero team, Big Hero 6. As the new prodigy at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, Hiro now faces daunting academic challenges and the social trials of being the little man on campus. Off campus, the stakes are raised for the high-tech heroes as they must protect their city from an array of scientifically enhanced villains.

While my son is going to be bummed that there isn't a sequel coming to the movie theater, I'm pretty sure he is going to be delighted by this new television series and looking forward to being able to enjoy continuing adventures of the Big Hero 6 team.

April 6 - 13 is officially TV BINGE WATCHING WEEK thanks to Xfinity Watchathon

**Disclaimer**  I have been provided a complimentary subscription to the Xfinity TV Go app and access to the Comcast cable programming lineup as part of the Xfinity blogger reviewer program.   Opinions expressed are my own. #Xfinityreviewer

If you are a Comcast's Xfinity television customer you may want to get a doctor's note ready or reserve some vacation time so you can skip work the week of April 6th through the 13th for its 3rd annual Watchathon. During that week Xfinity TV customers will have an all-access pass to 215 of the hottest shows from premium, cable and broadcast networks for FREE on Xfinity On Demand.  Don't have HBO and missed Game of Thrones or STARZ and haven't seen Black Sails, which are two of my favorite shows,  now you can watch the entire recent season of shows you might have otherwise missed out on because you didn't include a premium channel in your cable television package.

"Watchathon Week continues to be one of the most anticipated events of the year as the number of really great, high-quality TV series has reached an all time high," notes Andy Hunter, Vice President of Programming for Comcast. Last year, Xfinity TV customers spent nearly 50 million hours catching up on or checking out new shows they had previously missed out during the recent television season.  "Watchathon enables us to unlock the biggest and best TV content of the year for the ultimate TV binge week," Hunter added.

So if there is a show that you've been wanting to watch that isn't included in your regular cable package of channels next week's Watchathon is your time to tune in on Xfinity On Demand.  Watchathon Week programming partners include premium networks: Cinemax, ENCORE, HBO, SHOWTIME, and STARZ; cable networks A&E, AMC, BBC America, Bravo, Comedy Central, Discovery, DIY Network, E!, Esquire Network, FX, FXX, HISTORY, Lifetime, MTV, National Geographic Channel, Spike, Syfy, TBS, TNT, VH1 and USA Network; and broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, NBC and PBS.

If you need a reason to stay home next week, Xfinity has you covered with a customized excuse generator to get out of school, work or to just check out for the week.  CLICK HERE to generate your excuse so you can focus on binge watching your favorite television shows during the Xfinity Watchathon.

I don't normally have access to BBC America so I foresee a DOCTOR WHO marathon next week.  Fortunately, I don't have to worry about an excuse myself to get out of work because I've blocked off that week already to watch my kids while they're off school for Spring Break.  So what shows would you binge on during the Xfinity Watchathon?

DISCLAIMER:  I have been provided a complimentary subscription to the Xfinity TV Go app and access to the Comcast cable programming lineup to allow this blog to review the service.  This blog post is associated with my participation as an Xfinity blogger reviewer.   Opinions expressed are my own #Xfinityreviewer

New Vampire Horror Series will try to Thrill TV Viewers on FX Cable Network

THE STRAIN has gone full circle now.  Originally created as an outline for a television series pitch by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro when no networks picked it up for a pilot the idea was transformed into a trilogy of New York Times Best Seller books and a comic book series.  Now the cable network FX has picked up THE STRAIN for a 3 season run with the first episode airing on Sunday July 13th at 10pm ET/PT.

The first episode of the show starts with a plane landing at JFK airport than going dark and silent.  When it is boarded, all of the passengers are found dead and the Center for Disease Control is brought in to investigate as authorities fear this tragedy was caused by a viral outbreak on board the flight.  The CDC sends their top investigator Ephraim Goodweather (played by Corey Stoll - Congressman Peter Russo in the first season of Netflix's House of Cards drama) to find out what is going on.  Goodweather is stumped as it appears the cause of the trouble appears to originate from a mysterious giant coffin filled with soil and worms found in the plane's cargo hold.  The infection quickly jumps from the plane to the airport to New York City.  Turns out though it isn't a virus but rather a vampire infestation that is the cause of this plague.

Season one's 13 episodes of THE STRAIN will be based on the first novel and tells the story of the eight days in which the outbreak first surfaces and infects New York City.  The main characters are similar to the ones from the novels and comic books, the CDC expert, an elderly pawn shop owner who encountered the vampires as a child in World War II era Europe, and a pest exterminator who encounters this new vampire infestation while on the job.  The show throws in a computer hacker character not from the books and comics to slightly differentiate the show's scripts from the prose. These four characters team together to tackle the Master, one of seven ancient vampires, who is responsible for bringing the strain to New York City.  What is the Master's grand plan and how does a rich industrialist lurking in the shadows play into it?

Watch THE STRAIN on FX to find out!

Oh, one other note to mention!  These vampires aren't the ones of Buffy the Vampire, Dracula, True Blood, The Twilight Saga that look like normal humans who need to avoid the sun, rather they are more like the Reapers from the movie Blade II (directed by del Toro) that have three-way jaws with leach like suckers that shoot out of their faces and bodies that are grotesque.  Like The Walking Dead this is not a show you want to allow children to watch!