Freaks & Geeks was saved by MTV. But Judd Apatow said no.

The mythology of Freaks and Geeks had it that NBC cancelled the series too soon and thus ended one of TV's finest series prematurely. The cast went on to become the biggest stars in US film and TV, while the series showrunners went off and made the biggest comedy films for the next 20 years.

But that's not the whole story. Apparently there was an offer on the table to take the show to MTV. Series showrunner Judd Apatow:

When the show was cancelled, there was an offer from MTV to continue making the show at a much lower budget,” Apatow said. “And we all decided we didn’t want to do a weaker version of the show.

Apatow and series creator Paul Feig are currently doing press for Freaks and Geeks, which has just been released to buy on digital for the first time with all of the (expensive to license) music intact.

Here's Paul Feig on the possible continuation:

There's moments so many times I go like, 'Wow, we just got away with these 18 episodes,' and I'm sure we would've done other great episodes, another great season. But at the same time, it's set in amber now and there's something lovely about that.”

Source: Collider

Amber Ruffin gets her studio audience

With restrictions easing across the US, all of the late night talk show hosts are slowly getting their audiences back. But, maybe more interesting is the case of new talk show host Amber Ruffin. Her show launched mid-pandemic, so it has never had a studio audience.

That is set to change with a fully vaccinated audience from August 13. A big question remains: when will we finally get her show here in Australia?

Would watch

The new series from producer (and Mr Robot creator) Sam Esmail has a high fantasy concept that sounds filled with all sorts of fun palace intrigue:

In a boldly reimagined, contemporary America where the nation was founded as a monarchy, an entirely white royal family is plunged into a scorched earth succession battle when it’s revealed the late king has hidden a mind-blowing secret: A Black son who is the true heir to the throne.

The American Throne is in development at the NBCU-owned Universal Content Productions.

TeeVee Snacks

John Lithgow is back for the Dexter revival series. Read: Deadline
Made For Love will return for a second season. Eh. Read: Variety
Ahead of a launch in Sweden later this year, HBO Max has greenlit comedy Lust starring The Bridge actor Sofia Helin. Read: Deadline
Dougray Scott won't return for season 3 of Batwoman. Read: EW
Growing Belushi, the Jim Belushi-fronted show about his weed farm business, will be back for a second season. Read: thefutoncritic
Former child actor Ed Oxenbould says that Aussie drama Puberty Blues, the show he was a child actor on, will be back for a third season. It last aired seven years ago. One assumes that if he is back on the show, there's a time jump involved... Read: Daily Mail
Kelsey Grammer believes the new Frasier show will likely be on Paramount+ in Q1 2022. Read: Collider

Don't expect too much more Succession

The third season is yet to air, but the likelihood is that we're already at the halfway mark in this series, with a fourth season probably being the final for the show. Here's producer Georgia Pritchett:

“I think the maximum would be five seasons, but possibly more like four,” Pritchett said. “We’re at the end of filming season three, so at this point Jesse is saying only one more. But that happens every time. We’ve got a good end in sight.”

Restoring the sitcom fourth wall

Last night I saw a shot on Cheers that blew my mind a little. Like all traditionally-filed sitcoms, we usually see the three walls of the bar Cheers, but never see the wall of the room that we are watching in from.

If you don't know the show, maybe take a look at this season 4 clip that introduces Woody Harrelson into the series. It shows the way that the bar is generally filmed from all angles:

But then something strange happens in the sixth season opener. The episode is the debut of Kirstie Alley as Rebecca (replacing Shelley Long in the series). It serves as a reboot for the series. It's also one of the rare episodes to have a written by credit from series creators Les and Glen Charles. The episode has a camera shot which is a POV from Rebecca as she walks into the office away from the bar.

We see the missing wall. The wall is glimpsed twice for no more than maybe four seconds altogether. Keep in mind: the show went to the trouble of building the wall for this blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment as well.