TV WEEK: Fargo series premiere billboards...

Welcome to another TV WEEK here at Daily Billboard and to help kickstart the themed week of new and returning shows, it's television spin-off time again with FX bringing the world of the Coen Brothers 1996 movie Fargo to the small screen.

The new crime drama set in North Dakota will feature a new case and new characters, but the same dark comedy and graphic violence that made the original film a hit.

The TV remake will star Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman and Allison Tollman as an ambitious rookie deputy police officer, that will no doubt evoke the wonderful Frances McDormand's pregnant character from the movie.

This needlepoint-style launch ad creative for the 10-part Fargo series is perfect for the quirky nature of the black comic drama, which will explore relationships as well as the bloody business of murder.

These series premiere billboards for Fargo were spied along the Sunset Strip and along Beverly Boulevard on March 26, 2014.

Often it takes TV shows a few seasons to hit their creative stride when it comes to series promo billboards, but FX has clearly nailed this offbeat creative for the new show.

If you like this billboard design, you may also like these billboards for Cinemax's Banshee which also took a different non-traditional approach with an illustrated ad creative.

Stick around in the days to come for even more cool billboards for debuting TV shows and returning series.

Draft Day movie billboards...

2014 has already been a busy year for Kevin Costner, with roles in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and 3 Days to Kill, but will Draft Day will the touchdown that the actor is looking for.

Often for every box office success like Dances with Wolves and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, there's a dud like Waterworld, so which will this new American Football drama be.

In Draft Day he stars as 'Sonny Weaver', a general manager for the Cleveland Browns struggling to acquire the number one pick for his football team on the day of the NFL Draft and having to decide what must be sacrificed personally and professionally in the name of perfection. 

This sporty ad creative certainly conveys that Kevin Costner has a big decision to make in this movie and was first spied along Highland Avenue on March 21, then along San Vicente Boulevard just before the Sunset Strip on March 26, 2014.

If you're a fan of the actor, be sure to also check out these Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit movie billboards from earlier this year.

UPDATED: Here's another version of the movie billboard, snapped along La Brea Avenue on April 23, 2014, this one incorporating some kind of product placement with Bud Light, which makes sense as they are the official beer sponsor of the NFL and this film is all about American football.

Google Play your heart out movies billboards...

Google Play is back in the skies of L.A. along the Sunset Strip this month, but this time not for their music offering, but their movie streaming and download service.

In these creatives the tech giant is capitalising on the recognisability and desirability of recent Oscar wins and other awards nominations for film stars and their movies, like Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips, Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games and Matthew McConnaughey in Dallas Buyers Club, plus popular classics like Russell Crowe in Gladiator and Jack Black in School of Rock.

With their clever side-by-side billboard placement the new ad campaign not only stands out more, but also helps highlight Google Play's diverse range of the very latest and popular old films across different genres, from real-life stories and historical epics, to thrillers, comedy and science-fiction films.

If you like these movie-themed billboards spotted on March 12, 2014, be sure to also check out Google Play's unlimited music special extension billboards from November last year.

Now as the billboards suggest, rescue, rebel, live, battle, rock and play your heart out.

UPDATED: Google continues its campaign for world domination with these latest 'Play your heart out' billboards, this time focusing on their music offering.

This blue duo of billboards featuring music icons, Beck and David Bowie, were snapped across the road from each other along L.A.'s Sunset Strip on May 26, 2014.

UPDATED: Here's another of the new blue Google Play music creatives, featuring Janelle Monáe, spied further south along La Cienega Boulevard on June 12, 2014.

UPDATED: Finally for the New Year, Google Play have updated their billboards along the Sunset Strip.

Replacing Beck and David Bowie are the much more contemporary faces of Janelle Monae and Sam Smith, each with their own tailored tagline, be it 'groove your heart out' for the Electric Lady or 'pour your heart out' for the soulful crooner.

Let's hope they update these ad creatives, snapped on January 13, 2015, more frequently than their last two billboards which grew a bit stale.

Meanwhile, over along Westwood Boulevard, Daily Billboard also spied this Kendrick Lamar 'flow your heart out' billboard on January 4, 2015.

Veep season three TV billboards...

Daily Billboard has been waiting all week for clearer skies and for the sun to shine to capture some great photos and do this giant-sized billboard along the Sunset Strip for Veep's third season justice.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is back for a third term in her Golden Globe nominated, Screen Actors Guild and two time Emmy-winning role of U.S. Vice President, 'Selina Meyer', and this time she means business as she's 'boldly running for President' and 'proudly standing for everything'.

This season's tagline really does sum up what this hilarious political comedy is all about, the double-dealing, the compromises and the utter ineptness and hustle of sleazy Washington D.C. politics.

Just as Armando Iannucci's HBO series really found its feet in its sophomore year, then season three's promo key art is a real gem too and much more ambitious than previous seasons, with its fun homage to Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's 1851 oil painting 'Washington Crossing the Delaware', which features all the cast wonderfully in character.

Selina takes General Washington's place leading the way with her staff at her feet, most noticeably Tony Hale's overly attentive 'Gary'.

You have to laugh at Anna Clumsky's 'Amy' using her Blackberry, Reid Scott's 'Dan' being attached to his phone negotiating some deal or other (in his favour no doubt), Matt Walsh's 'Mike' trying to drown Timothy Simons annoying White House liaison 'Jonah', Sufe Bradshaw's 'Sue' keeping the office shipshape with her no-nonense glares and Kevin Dunn as the President's depressed and hassled Chief of Staff steering the boat.

This season three Veep billboard was first snapped along West Hollywood's Sunset Strip on March 12, plus extra ads were also spotted along Highland Avenue and Melrose Avenue on March 15, 2014.

The super-sized version was snapped towering proudly over the busy commuter belt of Sunset Boulevard on March 27, 2014.

If you're a fan of the clever and witty series, be sure to check out these Veep season one billboards from 2012 and Veep season two billboards from 2013.

Daily Billboard can only imagine the back-stabbing, lies and deals with the devil that take place on the road to the highest office in the U.S. Government, so this should make for a season rife with delicious satire and laugh out loud humour.

UPDATED: Here's also the Emmy Consideration billboard for the third season of Veep in the Outstanding Comedy Series category spotted along Pico Boulevard at La Cienega Boulevard on May 25, 2014. Surely it's earned more than few nominations after all the hilarious laughs and genuine surprises this season. Plus if you like this, be sure to check out the rest of HBO's 2014 Emmy Consideration outdoor ad campaign.

Rio 2 living Mardi Gras dancer billboard installation along L.A.'s Sunset Strip and more ads besides...

Daily Billboard was certainly 'beaking out' when we had the good fortune to come across this special live Mardi Gras carnival spectacle for the animated comedy movie sequel, Rio 2, along L.A.'s busy Sunset Strip on March 18, 2014.

To celebrate the return of 'Blu' the macaw and his friends to the big screen this April, it seems Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox are going all out to grab your attention and encourage passersby to flock this way to the cinemas when the movie is released.

In this movie Blu, his lady love 'Jewel' and their three kids discover it's a jungle out there when they go from the big city life of Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon forest to find more of their blue macaw flock, discovering family, old foes and new rivals along the way.

Not only was the live PR stunt a lot of fun, but there are also several other eye-catching ad creatives, including some cool special extension billboards, popping up around Los Angeles to herald the sequel.

The carnival samba dancers are certainly a clever way to evoke the party atmosphere of Rio de Janeiro and the feathered costumes are a nice connection with the avian stars of the animated movie, and even though this is not the first time we've seen 'living' billboards along Sunset Boulevard, Daily Billboard hasn't seen such a big spectacle before on three tiers, even if it was a bit obscured by park fences and shrubbery (and we're sure this level of activity doesn't come cheap).

If you like this attention-grabbing stunt, be sure to also check out these other examples, including this live Arthur Christmas and elves billboard and this living gym installation for Pain & Gain's Blu-ray release in the same location along the heavily-trafficked Sunset Strip.

Meanwhile the fun 'Beak Out' special extension billboard was first spied at the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and La Brea Avenue on March 12, and spotted again later along San Vicente and Olympic Boulevards on March 22, 2014.

The fun special extension with Blu wearing an explorer's safari pith helmet surrounded by his friends 'Rafael', 'Luiz', 'Pedro' and 'Nico' was snapped on March 26,  2014, whilst a standard landscape Rio 2 ad creative replaced the PR stunt version the next day.

If you're a fan of our blue feathered friend voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, be sure to also check out these Rio movie billboards from the start of 2011.


Have all these colourful billboards and drama inspired you to sing and dance your way to see Rio 2 when it opens on April 11, 2014, or don't you give a flying flock?