A Look at the Pop Week Ahead

In the World of Television:

  • Tonight, on ABC Family, Melissa and Joey is on…a new show for people who must really love early 90s television. Oh, and some speech about “the Iraq, everywhere like such as“.
  • Later on this week, my greatest summer guilty pleasure, Big Brother 12 continues (*go Britney*).
  • On Thursday, The Denver Broncos (orange crush forever!) take on the Minnesota Vikings in an epic and thrilling match up of third and fourth string players.
  • Project Runway continues their extended episode season, 8PM, Thursday on Lifetime.
  • As per every Friday, The Soup looks back on the best and worst of this week in television (I can only guess that Bachelor Pad makes at least one clip on the show).
  • This Sunday, at 8PM, AMC continues to impress with back to back new episodes of Rubicon and Mad Men.
  • Also on Sunday, TLC brings us a new show (sure to fascinate and disgust) called Freaky Eaters.
  • A weekend of repeats on the premium channels as they gear up for new series and new premieres in the coming weeks and months.

In the World of Music:

  • Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley and Postal Service fame-and former child actor) and singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice, debut I’m Having Fun Now, their first collaborative album as Jenny and Johnny.
  • Kids show, Yo Gabba Gabba returns with another album (Music is Awesome Volume 2) of original kids music written and performed by numerous indie groups (Datarock, Weezer, MGMT, The Ting Tings, and more).
  • Pitchfork has started another “top” list (Best Songs of the 1990s-no doubt in honor of Melissa and Joey)

In the World of Games:

In Theaters:

  • The new George Clooney flick, The American, directed by the incredible music video director and designer, Anton Corbijn debuts on Wednesday.
  • Grindhouse‘s fake trailer for Machete, turns into a gory over-the-top schlockfest, complete with a just out of rehab Lindsey Lohan.
  • Described by some as the French Scarface, Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 both have a limited release this week.
  • Going the Distance, the rom-com with that Mac guy and that girl from E.T. comes out Friday. Hollywood Reporter had this to say: “Going the Distance is, in a way, a remarkable film: It’s hard to imagine any romantic comedy going wrong in so many different ways.”

On DVD + Blu-ray:

  • The highly acclaimed BBC mini-series, Red Riding Trilogy, finally makes its American debut.
  • Big week in TV on DVD/Blu-ray with the releases of the latest seasons of Sons of Anarchy, House, Parenthood, The Middle, Vampire Diaries, and more.
  • The much beloved, early 60s series Thriller arrives on DVD in a deluxe complete edition. A horror anthology similar to the (still) amazing Twilight Zone (and featuring many of the same contributors), the series ran 67 episodes and was hosted by the infamous Boris Karloff. I’ve yet to ever see an episode, but as a huge fan of its contemporaries (Outer Limits, Hitchcock Presents, and the aforementioned Twilight Zone), I’m looking forward to finding a good price on this set and checking it out for myself.