There is no greater joy in life than sitting on the couch watching TV and enjoying a pint of Ben & Jerry's icecream. Soon your TV experience is set to get really meta with an actual TV show about making the ice-cream.
Event reality competition show Ben & Jerry’s: Clash of the Cones debuts on Food Network and Discovery+ on August 16. The show challenges six ice-cream makers to create new concoctions inspired by a specific celebrity or pop-culture figure, each of whom will offer direction.
These celebrities include Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Food Network’s Duff Goldman and Buddy Valastro, and actor Kevin Bacon. I know what everyone will immediately gravitate towards with Kevin BACON, but might I instead suggest Stirring of Echoes, which is chocolate icecream, with peanut butter cookie dough and marshmallow. You let it melt just that little bit and stir the heck out of it. Unilever, you can have that idea for free. Just send me a pint.
Brian Steinberg
King Watch
It is no secret that Always Be Watching is very excited by all things Robert and Michelle King. Today the showrunners of The Good Fight and Evil are reported to have signed a five-year deal with CBS to continue making TV for them.
The prolific showrunners this past year not only produced the aforementioned Evil and The Good Fight, but they also oversaw a limited series The Bite for Spectrum, and Executive Produced Your Honor for Showtime.
Quietly, if anyone can find a way for me to see The Bite, please drop me a note...
And speaking of their show Evil - it just got picked up for a third season on Paramount+.
Nellie Andreeva
Oh, and let's finish this section out with some The Good Fight business. Last week I interviewed new cast addition to the series, Charmaine Bingwa, for SBS who broadcast the show in Australia.
Lego - take my yadda yadda yadda
The irony with Seinfeld is that as great as that show was, it's merchandising was always less than desirable. This LEGO set is a gamechanger in regards to that. Gimme gimme gimme.
TeeVee Snacks
- Rutherford Falls has been renewed for a second season. Read: THR
- The 80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon is playing all weekend on Twitch. Read: Byteside
- Citizen PI is a new Discovery+ show focused on amateur sluths from around the world solving crimes.Fun idea. Read: thefutoncritic
- Elmo has adopted a pandemic puppy that will begin to appear on Sesame Street. Tango will first appear in a half-hour animated special before transitioning to puppet form. Read: Huffpost
The future of movies on TV
Try and keep track of this.
New movies made for Universal will play in US cinemas for four months. They will then play for four months on the NBC Universal streaming service Peacock. Then they will move to Amazon Prime Video for ten months. But then they will return to Peacock for another four months.
The unusual deal is an overhaul of the typical arrangement studios make with streaming services like Netflix and pay-TV networks like HBO. Such deals usually mean the movies are available on the chosen streaming service or network for 18 months for a period that begins six to nine months after their theatrical release. Generally, such deals are worth $200 million to $300 million in annual licensing revenue.
Universal is splitting its so-called “Pay 1" window into three sections. The hybrid approach could help Comcast and its subsidiary NBCUniversal boost Peacock’s subscriber base. Peacock, which launched a year ago, has signed up 42 million accounts, according to the company, but the vast majority aren’t paying.
Ryan Faughnder
Casting Snacks
There's a lot of casting news around today. Here's a quick rundown:
- Keifer Sutherland will play Franklin D Roosevelt in The First Lady. Read: Deadline
- Dominic Monaghan from Lost is heading into space for the AMC+ series Moonhaven. He'll play a detective on the moon. Read: TV Line
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will star in civil rights(ish) drama The Scent of Burnt Flowers. It doesn't yet have an outlet. It sounds interesting - it's about a couple on the run and it'll involve mermaids, military coups, and love triangles in a geopolitical thriller. Source: THR
- Jeff Goldblum has joined the cast of Search Party for it's fifth season. Nature has found a way. Read: Variety
Trailer Park
Scenes From a Marriage starring Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaacs debuts on HBO in September.
Mr Corman debuts on Apple TV+ on August 6. I'm waiting for the Mr Corman / Mrs Fletcher crossover event series.
Marvel Studio's What If...? debuts on Disney+ August 11.
The Colin Farrell-starring ice-whaling drama The North Water debuts on AMC+ July 15.
Love is Blind: After The Altar debuts July 28 on Netflix
Rosehaven returns for it's fifth and final season on Australia's ABC on August 4.
Baki Hanma is streaming on Netflix from sometime later this year (Q3).
Kingdom: Ashin of the North debuts on Netflix July 23.
What's next? Tomorrow.
