This week in TV news, George R.R. Martin explains why Game of Thrones has so much violence against women, while Jason Alexander reveals the reason for killing Susan off of Seinfeld. On the streaming front, Showtime goes over the top in time for summer shows, and Amazon adds an audio track to Transparent. Last, but certainly not least, Joel McHale joins the cast of The X-Files!
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly this week, author George R.R. Martin addressed the recurring sexual violence against women in the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on his bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Though the books and show are set in a fantasy world, Martin said that they are historically based on medieval Europe. “The books reflect a patriarchal society based on the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages were not a time of sexual egalitarianism,” Martin said. Game of Thrones has stirred up plenty of controversy over its five-season run, but most especially with the sixth episode this season in which a major female character is raped. Though the storyline departs greatly from the books, the same culture is consistent across both, presenting a violent, dangerous world for women — which is also consistent with medieval times. “It’s not a strong testament to the human race,” Martin said. “But I don’t think we should pretend it doesn’t exist.”
In the first guest star casting news for Fox’s upcoming reboot of The X-Files, Community star Joel McHale nabbed a recurring role. McHale will join original cast members David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and Mitch Pileggi as the new character Tad O’Malley, described as “the anchor of a popular conservative Internet news network who becomes an unlikely ally for Fox Mulder.” The casting came after X-Files creator Chris Carter, a fan of the funnyman, heard that McHale was interested in doing more dramatic work. The new X-Files will premiere on Sunday, Jan. 20 after the NFC Championship game on Fox.
Remember Susan Ross? Seinfeld‘s cautionary tale about licking too many envelopes? This week on The Howard Stern Show, actor Jason Alexander revealed why George Costanza’s fiancé (Heidi Swedberg) was written off the show. Apparently, it came down to the actress’ timing. “She’s a terrific girl,” Alexander said. “I couldn’t figure out how to play off her.” The actor explained the moment he learned that George and Susan were getting engaged, he said, “Oh, great. Who’s playing George?” Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine, joked that the show should kill off Susan — and executive producer Larry David ran with the idea. Since the interview, Alexander has apologized to Swedberg via Twitter, saying, “I feel officially awful.”
It’s official: Showtime will launch a standalone online streaming service this July, which will initially be available exclusively via Apple. The subscription service, which will just be called Showtime like the channel, will cost $10.99 — four dollars less than HBO Now. Launch is timed with the season premieres of Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan, and the entire original series library — along with hundreds of hours of movies — will be available on demand via iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, and Apple TV. Anyone who signs up through Apple in July will receive a free trial for 30 days.
This week, Amazon added a version of its Golden Globe award-winning series Transparent to its Prime library that contains an audio track. Members can watch the show with commentary from creator Jill Soloway, along with cast members Jeffrey Tambor (Mort/Maura), Judith Light (Shelly), Gaby Hoffmann (Ali), Amy Landecker, and Jay Duplass (Josh). The track will include insights into the series’ creation, as well as behind-the-scenes reactions to some of the cast’s favorite moments. “People are always coming up and asking me questions about how the show came together,” said Soloway in a statement. “With this audio commentary, they can hear it for themselves — whether we’re reminiscing about the technicalities of production or just showcasing some of the chemistry we shared. I can’t wait for our fans to sink their teeth into some of our behind-the-scenes goodness.” To listen to the audio commentary, Prime members in the US, UK, and Germany can look for the “audio commentary” version of Transparent, which is available using the Amazon Instant Video app for TVs, connected devices (such as Roku), mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com.
