This week in TV news, The Simpsons drops a bomb, while Netflix drops into Marriott hotels. Also, The Jinx creators speak out about real-life bad guy Robert Durst, and Starz grants their fictitious drug lord in Power a third season.
All marriages hit their rough patches and the same is true for Marge and Homer Simpson, who have served as television’s most stable couple for the past 26 years years. The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean gave a preview of what’s to come in season 27, including Marge and Homer’s separation. “In the premiere, it’s discovered after all the years Homer has narcolepsy and it’s an incredible strain on the marriage,” Jean told Variety. Homer and Marge legally separate, and Homer falls in love with his pharmacist, who’s voiced by Lena Dunham. Also coming up next season, Spider Pig will be back, Lisa will befriend a homeless woman (Kate McKinnon) whose singing voice sounds a lot like Natalie Maines, and Sideshow Bob will finally kill Bart. Jean, who was always frustrated that Wile E. Coyote could never kill the Roadrunner, will “scratch that itch” by having Sideshow Bob execute Bart in the season 27 “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween special. Of course, Bart will be back in fine fettle in the following episode. As for Marge and Homer, it’s just a separation, so stop freaking out!
You know the deal. You’re in the middle of a binge-watching bender when you’re confronted with subpar hotel wifi. To make matters worse, you recognize that the same smart TV you have at home is hanging on the wall of your hotel room, but you can’t use the apps. For people who simply cannot do without their Netflix fix on the road, Marriott is on the verge of a solution. In a partnership announced this week, Marriott shared that it will be offering Netflix in a select group of hotels, allowing guests to sign into Netflix through their room TVs. For now, six hotels have the service, and six more will add it this summer. Marriott plans to have 100 more properties Netflix-ready by the end of this year, and a total of 300 properties offering the full library of series, movies, and children’s entertainment in the U.S. by the end of 2016.
In the first interview since the arrest of Robert Durst in March, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst creators Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling explained why they have been lying low. As potential witnesses in the case against Durst for the 2000 murder of Susan Berman — which is still without a date as Durst is being held without bond in Louisiana — Jarecki and Smerling are reticent to speak about it to the media. “To try the case in the media, or for us to provide some pseudo-expert opinions about how the legal process is going to go, is only going to confuse people and go beyond our sphere of expertise,” Jarecki told The Hollywood Reporter. As for new developments in the investigation, Jarecki and Smerling claim to be as in the dark as everyone else since their HBO series became the catalyst for Durst’s latest round of criminal charges. The documentarians also revealed that they never quite feared for their safety during filming. “[Durst is] a strategic killer and won’t put himself at risk unless he thinks there’s an upside,” said Jarecki, who also made the 2010 fictionalized film about Durst, All Good Things.
Within a week of its season two premiere, Starz announced that Power will return for a third season next year. Executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Power centers on a New York City nightclub owner nicknamed Ghost (Omari Hardwick), who leads a double life as a drug kingpin. Season two premiered to impressive ratings, making Power the most-watched Starz original series season debut in the channel’s history, and positive reviews from critics. The second episode airs this Saturday on Starz at 9 p.m.
