Sam Rockwell

It’s been over a years since we first heard Dr. Dre would spin his Apple connection into semi-autobiographical series Vital Signs, yet – for all its top-shelf casting and orgies – the project seems to have disappeared. Now, star Ian McShane claims the series will arrive in August, in that usual “if Ian McShane says it, it must be true” way.

Boy, you can’t seem to swing a dead cat (not that you’d want to) without hitting one of Netflix’s May premieres. Like House of Cards and Bloodline before it, Netflix now has a late May premiere for Season 2 of Bill Burr’s animated F Is for Family, along with an irate first teaser.

Mildred Hayes has had it. It’s been weeks since her daughter was brutally raped and murdered, and the local police force in Ebbing, Missouri don’t have a single perp to show for all their efforts. Feeling disrespected and unheard, Mildred does the only thing an ordinary citizen at the end of their rope can do: she clarifies which cursewords you can put on a billboard and puts a message right where area sheriff Willoughby will see it. Them’s fightin’ words on her billboards, reading “RAPED WHILE DYING. STILL NO ARRESTS. HOW COME, CHIEF WILLOUGHBY?” And in the newly released red-band trailer begins a long, farcical, spiteful conflict between one-woman army MIldred and the local cops.

Doubling up on Netflix’s programming has inevitably let a few through the cracks, but the streaming service is doubling down on star-studded Bill Burr animated comedy F is for Family. The period comedy has officially earned an extended Season 2, announcing as much with more F-bombs than you’ll know what to do with.

A few months back, word broke that Apple would enter the scripted series game with a new drama loosely based on Dr. Dre’s life, dubbed Vital Signs, though the tech empire had nothing to say. Now, actor Sam Rockwell confirms his presence in the cast, as well as cast members like Ian McShane and Michael K. Williams, as well what we can expect from the surreal new series.

As if we didn’t have enough reason to be bummed about the death of Alan Rickman, the magnficent star of Die Hard, Dogma, and the Harry Potter series. On a recent episode of the Nerdist podcast, Sam Rockwell says that we almost got a Galaxy Quest sequel, but the plan was squashed by Rickman’s death.

It was only a matter of time before Apple got in on the scripted series game, and it seems Dr. Dre will pivot from Beats to Vital Signs to do it. The first details of his new loosely autobiographical series have arrived, with Dre both starring and executive producing.

If that headline didn’t clue you in, then you should know that this is a trailer for Don Verdean, a new absurd religious satire from the guys who brought you Napoleon Dynamite (and some other movies that weren’t as well-liked) — not a trailer for a new religious movie. Although I’d pay handsomely to watch Danny McBride and Sam Rockwell play it straight in a faith-based drama.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Amazon has begun preliminary discussions toward adapting the series, without an official pilot order as of yet. It remains unclear if the TV take would look to incorporate cast members the likes of Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Sam Rockwell, Tony Shalhoub and Justin Long, or more likely, reboot the franchise overall.

Joe Swanberg has gone from prolific director of divisive mumblecore indies to director of more widely-seen and loved indie features, like Drinking Buddies — although Swanberg has been making films for over a decade, Drinking Buddies was his mainstream breakout. Or as mainstream as indies can get, anyway. As you can see in the trailer for his latest, his appeal is only growing.