Weekend News Dump

It's the Weekend News Dump. Because it's the weekend. And we're dumping news. The Weekend News Dump.

• The deluxe reissue of The Cure's Disintegration (AKA The Greatest Album Of All Time) was released this past Tuesday and is an incredible package for anyone who has even a passing interest in great music. The set consists of a remastered version of the album itself, a disc of home/studio demos and rarities, and a third disc of the album performed in its entirety at Wembley Stadium in 1989. The rarities disc is the hidden gem as it's fascinating to hear tracks like "Pictures Of You" and "Prayers For Rain" go from Robert Smith solo instrumental home demos to instrumental studio tracks by the whole band to rough drafts with vocals and then finally to the classic versions on the record itself. Apparently, Pitchfork agrees. Seriously -- go buy this right now.
• Friday Night Lights has long been one of the most underappreciated series on television. Sure, it has a small but rabidly loyal following but the series itself has never been recognized by the industry during awards season. Its fans are trying to rectify that injustice by starting a grassroots movement to get Zach Gilford, who plays mild-mannered Matt Saracen on the series, an Emmy nomination for his work on last week's episode, "The Son" where Saracen deals with the death of his father who's killed in combat in the Middle East. Gilford has always been great in the series but he took it to another level in "The Son" as his performance was one of the most powerfully human and affecting that we've seen in years. It's not possible for us to love Friday Night Lights more than we already do and it's performances like Gilford's that are the reason. See for yourself. Watch the episode on Hulu. We promise you that you won't be disappointed.
• AMC is without question doing some incredible work right now. Their original series slate consists of two-time Emmy winner for Best Drama, Mad Men, and what's been quite frankly the best thing on TV in 2010, Breaking Bad (and more on that later this week) so we're granting a ton of rope to their two new series, Rubicon and Walking Dead. Rubicon is a conspiracy thriller that's getting a special airing after tonight's Breaking Bad finale before settling into its Sundays at 8 slot on August 1. It stars James Badge Dale (fresh from his impressive stint on HBO's excellent miniseries, The Pacific) as a think tank analyst who believes he's uncovered a worldwide conspiracy perpetrated by his employers. The trailer is here. Walking Dead is an adaptation of the Image Comics series about a zombie apocalypse that's being helmed by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile). Production photos have started leaking and, damn... this could be good.
• Despite the fact that our Philadelphia Flyers came up short against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals this year's edition was the most watched NHL final round in 13 years and Wednesday night's clincher was the most watched single game in 36 years, drawing 8.3 million viewers. Hey, Gary Bettman... now that we've proven that we can draw an audience can we get some of that Pittsburgh Penguins special treatment, please? Thanks.