May 2014 Archives - Channel Guide Magazine

A cop walks a dangerous tightrope in FOX’s Gang Related

May 13, 2014 Ryan Berenz Comments Off

“Going against the family,” in gangster parlance, takes on a twist in FOX’s new police drama series Gang Related, premiering Thursday, May 22, at 9pm ET/PT. Ryan Lopez (Ramon Rodriguez, The Wire) is a rising star in the LAPD’s elite Gang Task Force, earning the trust and respect of the unit’s captain, Sam Chapel (Terry O’Quinn, Lost). At the same time, Ryan owes allegiance to crime boss Javier Acosta (Cliff Curtis), who helped him in his troubled youth. Javier has been pulling Ryan’s strings ever since. Ryan works both sides of the law, giving information about police operations and rival […]

Petals on the Wind: V.C. Andrews series blooms with “Attic” follow-up

May 13, 2014 Lori Acken Comments Off

In January, Lifetime’s film adaptation of the V.C. Andrews cult classic novel Flowers in the Attic lured a whopping 6.1 million viewers to its controversial tale of multigenerational family horrors, brought to vivid life by Ellen Burstyn, Heather Graham and Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka. Almost immediately, production began on the film’s sequel, Petals on the Wind. Tweaking that novel’s timeline, Petals — which premieres on Memorial Day — begins 10 years after tormented Dollanganger siblings Christopher, Cathy and Carrie escaped their attic prison and the torment at the hands of their mother Corrine (Graham) and grandmother Olivia (Burstyn). Now grown, […]

The Normal Heart: We talk with Mark Ruffalo

April 30, 2014 Lori Acken Comments Off

Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Julia Roberts, Taylor Kitsch and Jim Parsons stun in Ryan Murphy and Larry Kramer’s unflinching and unforgettable film adaptation of The Normal Heart. In 1981, playwright Larry Kramer was an active part of New York’s thriving gay community when a mysterious cancer began turning his vibrant comrades into lesion-covered, incoherent living skeletons — and then into corpses. Spurred into action by his friend and physician Dr. Linda Laubenstein, who treated the outbreak’s earliest patients, Kramer begged his vast social circle to end the rampant promiscuity Laubenstein suspected led to its alarming spread. Kramer launched the Gay Men’s Health […]

‘24: Live Another Day — the iconic FOX series moves to London for a bold new tale

April 29, 2014 Lori Acken 2

Jack Bauer’s back, 24 fans — and he has another burgeoning global disaster on his hands. When last we saw him in 24’s 2010 series finale, Kiefer Sutherland’s rogue U.S. agent was on the run, aided by his loyal comrade, acting CTU chief Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), who ordered the drone tracking his every move shut down as the final clock ran out. Now a new countdown begins as the much-anticipated 24: Live Another Day begins its 12-episode run this month. Yes, that theoretically means two hours per episode this time, but the show’s producers promise that Live Another […]

“Coming Back With Wes Moore” examines war veterans’ struggles at home

March 18, 2014 Ryan Berenz Comments Off

Coming Back With Wes Moore examines war veterans’ struggles at home: This new three-part PBS documentary series reveals how, for some veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, the battle for a new life begins when the war ends. No one comes home from war unchanged. For some veterans, those changes can be as dangerous as war itself. The three-part PBS documentary series Coming Back With Wes Moore (Mondays at 8pm ET beginning May 13) delves into the lives of a handful of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to explore why some struggle and some succeed in life after their military service. […]