Hulu has added filmmaker and raconteur Kevin Smith to its lineup of original programming creators, as well as importing several series previously unseen in the United States for its summer season.
Debuting on June 4 will be Spoilers, a half-hour show by and for people who love movies, featuring the incorrigible Smith himself.
The deal fits in with Smith’s move outside of the Hollywood system in recent years. Best known for Clerks and the Jay and Silent Bob movies, his most recent movie Red State was self-financed and self-distributed, and he also has been growing a podcast network.
“I have always wanted to do a show that provides an open forum for real fans to discuss real movies in real time and that’s what Spoilers is about. As a filmmaker and lover of movies, I understand that ultimately it’s the fans who make the film. So in this show, we do not review movies, we revere them,” Smith (pictured) said. “Hulu really lends itself well to a show like this because they have an audience that is passionate and active when it comes to shows they love. And frankly, those are the people I want to hang with.”
Hulu also is offering seven shows that are new to U.S. audiences but that have already proved popular in other countries: Rev., a modern British comedy about a vicar who moves from the countryside to an inner-city church; The Yard, an edgy Canadian comedy that brings mobster movie plots to the schoolyard; Pramface, a heartwarming British comedy about a teenage couple faced with unplanned parenthood; Derren Brown: Inside Your Mind, which demonstrates the British showman’s talents at slight-of-hand and psychology; The Promise, the story of a young woman tracing her grandfather’s role during the post-World War I British administration of Palestine; Little Mosque, which conveys humanity and humor as a small Muslim community moves into a small town; and the second season of the sci-fi thriller, The Booth at the End. Further details are posted below the video.
“In an on-demand world, viewers are going to actively choose to watch TV shows that they really love. At Hulu, we want to offer exclusive shows and make original TV programming that speaks to a passionate group of fans. Because today, you don’t have to settle for watching something mildly entertaining,” said Andy Forssell, senior vice president of content for Hulu.
Here are the listings and descriptions as provided by Hulu:
Spoilers – Premieres: June 4, 2012
Kevin Smith’s Movie Revue – This multi-act film extravaganza mixes lively group chats, interviews with movie and pop culture icons and animated shorts. Each week, Kevin, special guests and movie lovers passionately sound off on the year’s most anticipated summer blockbusters, gushing over their favorite scenes and debating the details frame by frame. The series, produced by SModCo, premieres on June 4th on Hulu and Hulu Plus at hulu.com/spoilers. Ten episodes.
Up To Speed – Premieres: August 2012
A Travel Show About The Road Less Traveled – This new travel series was created by filmmaker Richard Linklater (Bernie, Dazed and Confused) and represents his first foray into episodic TV storytelling. Each week Up to Speed follows tour guide, historian and flaneur Timothy Speed Levitch (The Cruise) as he visits the monumentally-ignored monuments of America’s cities, from the shoe gardens of San Francisco to the luckiest subway grate in New York City. The series, produced by Cinetic Media, premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus in August.
We Got Next – Premieres: August 2012
A Bro-mantic Comedy – We Got Next is a raunchy, sarcastic and out-of-bounds half-hour show about a pick-up basketball team of four guys who should never have been friends in the first place. Each week, the guys’ courtside banter consistently escalates into a run of terrible advice and poor decision-making. Cast includes Paul Bartholomew (Paul The Male Matchmaker), Lance Barber (Big Bang Theory), Bumper Robinson (The Game) and Bill Fagerbakke (Coach). Executive produced by Kenya Barris (co-creator of America’s Next Top Model), Hale Rothstein (writer, producer of The Game) and E. Brian Dobbins, with co-executive producer Danny Leiner (Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle) directing. The series premieres in August on Hulu and Hulu Plus.
Rev.– New episodes premiere every Sunday beginning on June 3; entire series available on August 26
Meet The Rev. Adam Smallbone. From a sleepy, rural parish, the newly promoted vicar has moved to the busy, inner-city world of St. Saviour’s in East London. It’s a world in which he has little experience, and it shows. It really shows. Rev. is a contemporary sitcom about the enormous daily frustrations and moral conflicts of an inner-city vicar. Cast includes Tom Hollander (Pirates of the Caribbean), Olivia Colman, Steve Evets, Miles Jupp, Lucy Liemann, Simon McBurney and Ellen Thomas. Originally broadcast on BBC Two in the U.K., the show has received widespread critical acclaim, winning the 2011 BAFTA’s Best Sitcom, and nominated for the 2012 BAFTA’s Best Sitcom, and Hollander receiving a nod for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Program. The series premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus on June 3rd from BBC Worldwide Americas Digital Distribution. Six episodes in season one; seven episodes in season two.
The Yard – New episodes premiere every Thursday beginning on June 7; entire series available on July 12
A mockumentary miniseries that originally aired on HBO Canada, The Yard offers a bizarre juxtaposition of two rival cliques of elementary school children, where tension develops much like the quintessential crime-family thriller. The show has comically been referred to by Canadian television critics as The Wire and The Sopranos with kids. The cast and crew have respectively been nominated for the 2012 Young Artist Award and the 2011 Directors Guild of Canada Award. The series, brought to Hulu by Entertainment One (eOne) and produced by Whizbang Films, premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus on June 7th. Six episodes.
Derren Brown: Inside Your Mind – New episodes premiere every Saturday beginning on July 7; entire series available on July 28
Derren Brown is a performer like none other in the world. He uses psychology, magic, showmanship and suggestion to achieve things that for anyone else would be impossible. In the U.K., he is multi-award winning performer and has done a variety of huge and baffling stunts including predicting the national lottery and playing Russian roulette on live TV. Brown brings his elaborate feats to U.S. audiences in this specially shot compilation. His technique challenges traditional preconceptions of magic in the grand tradition of Houdini and modern performers such as Penn & Teller, David Blaine and Criss Angel. However, Brown’s mind-reading of unsuspecting, everyday people gives magic a new angle that never ceases to amaze. The series premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus on July 7th. Four episodes.
The Booth at the End (Season Two) – Premieres: July 2012
Xander Berkeley, best known for his roles as George Mason in Fox’s 24 and Percy in The CW’s Nikita, stars as an enigmatic man occupying the corner booth of a diner. He possesses the power to grant desires, contingent upon recipients performing mysterious tasks. This half-hour psychological thriller begs the question: How far would you go to get what you want? Directed by Adam Arkin (Justified, Grey’s Anatomy), season two premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus in July. Five episodes.
Pramface – New episodes premiere every Thursday beginning on July 19; Entire series available on August 23
Jamie and Laura are two young, free and single teenagers who, after hooking up at a party, soon find they have a very big complication on their hands. Laura is pregnant. So even though they barely know each other, they now have one thing in common – and it’s getting bigger. Pramface brings humor and heart to a tricky subject, following these two unexpected parents-to-be as they try, and frequently fail, to negotiate family, sex and what happens once nine months is up. The series premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus on July 19th from BBC Worldwide Americas Digital Distribution. Six episodes.
The Promise – New episodes premiere every Saturday beginning on August 11; entire series available on September 1
With nearly a decade of extensive field research on the part of award-winning writer and director Peter Kosminsky, The Promise is a BAFTA-nominated, four-part political thriller and love story. The serial drama examines the origins of the Middle East conflict in events that took place under British rule 60 years ago. The bold and honest series cuts between the life of Erin, an 18-year-old Londoner in present day Israel and Gaza, and that of her military grandfather who was part of the British peace-keeping force in Palestine at the end of the second World War. The miniseries garnered widespread critical acclaim upon its airing in the U.K. and was subsequently nominated for Best Drama Serial by both BAFTA and Royal Television Society. The series premieres on Hulu and Hulu Plus on August 11th. Four episodes.
Little Mosque – New episode premiere every Thursday beginning on June 28; entire series available on August 23
Little Mosque is a light-hearted and comedic fish-out-of-water tale about a small Muslim community that rents the parish hall of a small town church to use as a mosque. The multi award-winning, half-hour series features a cast of both Muslims and non-Muslims in storylines that the New York Times says explore the funny side of an often misunderstood life. Little Mosque has received awards from around the world including the prestigious Search for Common Ground Award for promoting cross-cultural understanding. It has been lauded for its frank and authentic portrayal of real issues within the Muslim community as well as its delicate balance of the irreverent with the reverent. Little Mosque is available in 90 countries including Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Produced by WestWind Pictures, Little Mosque will premiere on Hulu and Hulu Plus this summer.
Related links:
Hulu – Summer Series
Hulu – blog post
Spoilers – Hulu page
Kevin Smith is too fat to Hulu.