[SouthernSweetieTX]

I am SOOO ready to see his transformation!

[worthyoflove]

So Taylor gave two dates in recent interviews, the 9th and the 24th. I'm going to say the 24th will be the date based on this article that says Spike will relaunch as Paramount on January 18th.

The latest in this tidal wave of tweaks and reboots is Paramount Network, formerly Spike, launching Jan. 18 with a live, hour-long version of the massive hit Lip Sync Battle as its stake in the ground. But execs, purposely, aren’t calling this a relaunch. They’ll try to forge an identity wholly apart from the testosterone-laced Spike, even though they’re importing some of its most successful shows to Paramount Net, which they describe as a home for “premium, original storytelling.” “This is a reinvention,” said Niels Schuurmans, CMO for Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT. “It’s a dramatic shift in attitude and programming. It’s a big, bold move.” Potential fans will begin to see what Schuurmans means in the coming weeks, as Paramount Net kicks off a marketing campaign that aims to position it on par with HBO, Netflix and other prestige TV hotshots. There will be scant mention of Spike, except in some tongue-in-cheek social media posts that will have the guy-centric channel cycling through the stages of grief as it gets left behind. Paramount Net will lead with its ambitious new programming like the six-part event series Waco, about the deadly 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound. Its heavy-hitting cast, including Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch, Melissa Benoist and John Leguizamo, will stump for the project, which will also get 60-second documentaries on digital and discussion threads on Reddit. “The content is the bait into the brand,” Schuurmans said. “It’s the actionable piece.” The marketing has to match the shows for being “immersive and engaging,” he said, and a spark for cultural conversation.

Spike’s Rebranding as Paramount Network Is the Latest Maneuver in Cable’s Battle for Viewers – Adweek

[SouthernSweetieTX]

Wow! No pressure Taylor.

[KitscherSunk]

Originally Posted by SouthernSweetieTX (View Post) True crime stories fascinated my husband. He lived for stuff like that. He wrote a paper in college about the guy who went to the tower on the UT campus and opened fire; Charles Whitman.

I recently saw "Tower," the documentary on the shooting. It was a mix of animation and actual footage/interviews from the actual shooting. It was fascinating! Really well done. Here's the trailer:

http://youtu.be/GTzNkfgM1vE

Regarding the press release, this line got my attention:

The marketing has to match the shows for being “immersive and engaging,” he said, and a spark for cultural conversation.

Hmmm.

And I was just doing the math today, and realized it's going to be October in just days! So the marketing of this reinvention or whatever should already be happening. Or at least should kick off very soon. It's only two months away! Maybe there are teasers on Spike already? I haven't watched the channel in a while.

[worthyoflove]

I started watching a documentary last night about human trafficing on Netflix. Jessica Chastain is the narrator. I got about half way through. The ability for a website like Backpage.com to get away with being involved in human trafficing and making all that money and facing no charges is mind blowing.

I would guess that the teaser trailer and new stills of Taylor as Koresh might be the starting off point for the marketing of Paramount. You'd think they'd have social media up and running with a facebook page, website, twitter, etc. to post it. Unless they're feeding it through EW or Variety or Deadline or something like that instead.

[worthyoflove]

Edit, this goes at the top, he looks so different.

Is that you, Taylor Kitsch? The Friday Night Lights fan-favorite looks eerily similar to cult leader David Koresh in this exclusive first look at Kitsch-as-Koresh in the upcoming miniseries Waco. The limited series, set to air in January 2018 in six parts on the Paramount Network, will follow the 51-day standoff between the fanatical leader, his followers the Branch Davidians and the FBI and AFT — which ended in tragedy and the death of 75 Davidians, including Koresh and 25 children, on April 19, 1993. Kitsch, 36, tells PEOPLE he did extensive prep for the role, including and reading (and re-reading) survivor David Thibodeau’s book. “It was four-plus months of prep for me,” Kistch says. “From losing just around 30 pounds, to listening to hundreds of hours of phone calls of the tapes with [FBI negotiator] Gary Noesner and the FBI and the ATF to Child Protective Services, to reading David Thibodeau’s book a few times.” The actor says having access to Thibodeau, who wrote A Place Called Waco: A Survivor’s Story, was invaluable to him before and during filming. “He’s been nothing but amazing,” Kitsch says of working with the survivor and author. “Even after 25 years, you can tell it’s not only life-altering, but to this day there’s an injustice there, and you see it. To have access to Dave, who is one of the nine survivors of the final siege, was huge to have. He was on set every day, and he really helped in the sense of reaffirming a lot of these choices that I was making.” Kitsch says he was able to do lose weight gradually with proper diet, nutrition and exercise. “I’m educated in nutrition and training, so the beauty of it is that I had four months to do it,” he explains. “So on Jan. 2, 2017, I started dieting. I didn’t have a lot to lose, but you have four months to lose 6 to 7 pounds a month. It wasn’t as difficult as it had been in the past, when you didn’t have the right amount of time – you can hurt your body if you lose that much weight that quick.” Kitsch also learned to sing and play the guitar. “I loved it,” he says of seeing himself in full costume as David Koresh the first time. “The wardrobe was huge, losing the weight changes your walk, your style, and I think listening to Dave for so many hours – I’d run while listening to these phone conversations and stuff, it’s a different cadence, there’s a higher pitch that he had and not that you want to emulate or copy it, you always want to make it your own.” “That whole look, the glasses were huge for me,” he says. “Even in your trailer before you go do a scene, you’d be listening to cadence and the inflection. [Koresh] really did live with his heart on his sleeve, and I loved that about him – as an actor too, you go through every emotion possible with Dave and you see it in the six hours, literally everything, so as an actor it’s an incredible challenge to say the least.” Kitsch admits that he was unaware of most of the details about the 1993 tragedy and hopes that people learn more about what really happened from all sides. “I learned a lot about myself as well through learning both sides and formulating an educated opinion on it,” he says. “I was like 99-plus percent of the people who are going to start watching this [and don’t know the whole story], in the sense of we only knew or know what we were told and what they want you to know. The deeper I got into this, the more it unfolded of what exactly happened from the civil rights to the $50 warrant that they had, to the lack of jurisdiction – there are literally jaw-dropping things that happened that the FBI and ATF did during that 51-day siege, it’s genuinely hard to believe that this happened only 25 years ago.” Waco also stars Michael Shannon as lead FBI negotiator Gary Noesner, John Leguizamo, Paul Sparks, Rory Culkin, Melissa Benoist and Andrea Riseborough. The miniseries will premiere on the Paramount Network in January 2018.

http://people.com/tv/first-look-tayl...co-miniseries/

So this kind of fits with the narrative I was talking about just a few hours ago! Paramount launched their website and social media accounts today.

If I had to guess, I'd say we might see the teaser tomorrow or Wednesday.

Official website: The Paramount Network

Viacom has announced that the upcoming rebranding of Spike TV as the Paramount Network will officially happen on Thursday, January 18 at 9 PM ET, kicking off with a live one-hour episode of Lip Sync Battle from the Paramount lot in Hollywood. Later in January, Paramount Network will premiere the landmark six-part event series, Waco, with an award-winning cast including Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch, John Leguizamo, and Melissa Benoist. On the heels of the 25th anniversary, the eye-opening and captivating series is based on the controversial and harrowing true story of the 1993 FBI siege of a religious sect that resulted in the deadly shoot out and fire. The new original scripted series coming to Paramount Network in the first part of 2018 includes Yellowstone, starring world-renowned actor and Oscar winner Kevin Costner and written and directed by critically-acclaimed, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Taylor Sheridan; American Woman, from award-winning producer John Wells, a single-camera comedy set in the 1970s amid the sexual revolution and the rise of feminism starring Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari; and Heathers, an hour-long pitch-black comedy anthology set in the present day, based on the 1988 cult classic film of the same name. Spike TV will have a new website, ParamountNetwork.com, launching today, alongside new social accounts: @ParamountNet on Twitter and @ParamountNetwork on Instagram and all other social platforms. Read more at Spike TV Will Become Paramount Network in January 2018

[SouthernSweetieTX]

Squee! I am so happy!

[worthyoflove]

We're going to get the teaser tomorrow! Thank you for doing it this week Paramount.

[SouthernSweetieTX]

I'm ready! I'm ready!

Originally Posted by worthyoflove (View Post) We're going to get the teaser tomorrow! Thank you for doing it this week Paramount.

[worthyoflove]

The response looks to be pretty positive so far, people are freaked that he looks so much like him/don't know how to feel about it and what Tim Riggins has become.

[elherts]

Somehow, in that bottom picture, he still looks hot. I see Taylor in there, but they did a good job of making him look like Koresh, Kentucky Waterfall and all. I haven't read all the articles, but I did notice he is pointing out what the FBI and ATF did wrong, nothing about Koresh being a whack-job.

[worthyoflove]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, it's hard to talk about child rape right off the bat and with a hard hitting news outlet like People (I kid). It'll be interesting to see how much they get into that. But, he's not wrong, the ATF/FBI broke protocol at pretty much every turn, even down to the warrant they obtained, to the ATF using the child abuse as their excuse for the raid, even though that's totally not their jurisdiction. It doesn't have to be one side was right and one was wrong, I came out of it thinking this man was an absolute whack-job, but the government agencies did not come away with their hands clean in this either.

The middle picture above I think he looks like Taylor with a wig, the other two I think he looks a lot like Koresh.

[KitscherSunk]

He looks like Taylor in a wig in the first two. I only see a strong Koresh resemblance in the third.

He says the miniseries presents both sides, but then goes on to give only one. So what he actually means to say is that it sheds light on what happened in the compound. He's playing Koresh and met the survivors, so it's understandable he sounds sympathetic to this group; he couldn't play Koresh thinking he was a complete monster. It'll be interesting to see what Michael has to say, having played Noesner.

"... [Koresh] really did live with his heart on his sleeve, and I loved that about him – as an actor too, you go through every emotion possible with Dave and you see it in the six hours, literally everything, so as an actor it’s an incredible challenge to say the least.”

This press junket is going to get him in trouble. You can't call a child rapist and certifiable wacko "Dave," and say you "like him" for "wearing his heart on his sleeve" It's just "Taylor speak," but you can't do that in this climate! Maybe not ever...?

So please, please listen to your handlers this time, Taylor, and have them coach you on what to say. And then do NOT stray! He could end up stirring up a whole lot of backlash.

[worthyoflove]

Here is the teaser:



A few caps.

[SouthernSweetieTX]

OMG! His voice!! Oh wow! he doesn't sound like Taylor at all! This is gonna be so good!!