Yahoo Screen gives ‘Community’ new life
“Community,” the inventive sitcom about a misfit group of community college students that NBC canceled after five hilarious but ratings-challenged seasons, comes back for Season 6 as a Web exclusive. The first major production from Yahoo Screen has a smaller study group and some new characters, but if the chemistry is a little different, creator Dan Harmon keeps his crazy Greendale universe alive and unhinged.
Three episodes are currently available with a new episode added every Tuesday, with no subscription fee and no commercials.
Yahoo Screen has also launched its first completely original series, a sports comedy about a Vegas pro basketball franchise owned by a brash, rash billionaire, called “Sin City Saints.”
In Netflix fashion, all eight episodes are available at once, but this is so tone-deaf and clumsy I doubt anyone will get that far.
Pay-per-view / video on demand
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings Peter Jackson’s supersized take on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy to its conclusion with a massive battle that sets Elf and Man against Dwarf, until the Orcs make it personal. Which kind of betrays Tolkien’s story, though as a prequel to “Lord of the Rings,” it is epic and impressive. It’s PG-13 for “fantasy action violence” and is available in 3-D through some systems. Also on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD.
Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Into the Woods” doesn’t have anything as catchy as “Let it Go” in its score, but this fairy tale for grown-ups features magic, giants, charming princes, Oscar-nominated costumes and sets, and a family-friendly PG rating. Anna Kendrick, James Corden, Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep take the leads.
Also new: the World War II survival drama “Unbroken,” a true story directed by Angelina Jolie (PG-13), and “Two Days, One Night,” with Marion Cotillard (in an Oscar-nominated performance) as a woman struggling with depression while trying to save her job (PG-13).
Netflix
“Mad Men: Season 7, Part 1”: Revisit Don Draper, Peggy Olson, Joan Harris and the entire Sterling Cooper gang before the final seven episodes begin on AMC next month.
If you’re obsessive about your binge-watching, Netflix has all six previous seasons as well.
“Turn: Season 1” is a new show from AMC, set during the American Revolution and inspired by the real-life drama of Culper Spy Ring and the civilians who risked their lives to supply intelligence to the Continental Army. AMC launches the second season in April.