Is The Golden Globes dead?

The big question today is whether we'll see the Golden Globes return in 2023. I'd be surprised - they've become a poisoned pill at this stage. When Tom Cruise is handing back his statues, that's probably a sign that the awards are too toxic to continue.

As per the NYT today:

Even if the group doubles its membership and admits more journalists of color, there remains the matter of what to do with the longtime members who have indulged in the Globes’ most criticized practices for years.

And if you think that isn't a big issue, think again. Considering the highly politicized state of Hollywood right now, there's no way that an HFPA with its current membership will be permitted into Hollywood polite society.

Vanity Fair has a big feature on the reaction to NBC's decision not to go ahead with the awards. Here's a particularly telling quote from PR specialist Jackie Bazan-Ross:

“They'll fly around the globe for Angry Birds, but they walked out on The Hate U Give, which was a film so socially relevant at the time—and still,"

Meanwhile Indiewire has a piece about all of the smaller awards shows jockeying to take over as NBC's broadcasted award show.

One proposal is for the craft guilds — the DGA, PGA, WGA and so on — to come together with an awards show. (Their categories put people to sleep, alas.) Another is for HFPA members to quit the organization and join the relatively clean-cut 450-member Critics Choice Association, which has already brought on 30 new international members (some of whom were turned down by the HFPA) and is pushing to add more members of color. (A recent survey has them at 25 percent.) Berlin and his board are taking updated bylaws to the members in the next few days in anticipation of a bigger platform this year.

Frankly, with the diminishing ratings each years for all of these award shows, the only reason NBC would be interested in moving forward with investing in a new award show is if the price was right. It would have to be an exceptionally small license fee being paid (certainly far less than the $60 million it pays now for the Golden Globes each year).

Could you buy Keifer Sutherland as a spy in a TV series?

24 star Keifer Sutherland will star in a new spy drama for Paramount+.

It finds private espionage operative James Weir (Sutherland) in the midst of a battle over the preservation of democracy in a world at odds with misinformation, behavioral manipulation, the surveillance state and the interests that control these extraordinary powers.

Sutherland has done a few TV series and even a 24 reboot since the original 24 series. It's as though he's chasing a high that he got from that series.

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Tessa Thompson set to solve 1000 piece mystery image

In the spirit of shows like Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and Iconoclasts, actor Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok, Creed) will bring together two public figures from various fields to meet and chat while putting together jigsaw puzzle. The new show will be for Hulu.

This is a fantastic idea for a TV show - it's simple and gives the conversation an end point. Usually these sorts of shows always end on a strange note with an artificial conclusion to the meeting.

“This idea was the result of doing a jigsaw puzzle with my family and being struck with the unfettered and candid style of conversation that the activity inspired,” Thompson told THR in a statement. “We coined the term ‘Puzzle Talk’ and I began to think about the limitless possibilities surrounding the concept of a show with public figures and/or compelling personalities as guests and subjects while tackling a jigsaw puzzle together. Though the pitch was conceived pre-pandemic; we witnessed a huge spike in interest in jigsaw puzzles resulting in sales unmatched since the Great Depression.

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New LEGO set will be there for you

This new set, that LEGO says is for 18+, will be available to buy from June 1. Source: LEGO

An opportunity to hang with Mr Cooper in 2021

Like me, do you spend a lot of your day wondering what Mark Curry, star of early 90s sitcom Hangin' With Mr Cooper is up to? He's just out there, living his life and thinking about how much it'll cost him to fill up his car. Just like the rest of us.

TeeVee Snacks

Take a deep breath. Days of Our Lives has been renewed for not just one season, but two. Seasons 57 and 58 will go forth on NBC. Read: TV Insider
Nickelodeon kids classic game show Legends of The Hidden Temple will return to TV as a show for adults. Not too dissimilar to UK game show for adults, The Crystal Maze. Read: Variety
Rotten Tomatoes is launching a linear channel. Read: Variety
Fox News is launching a weather channel. What happens when Trump disagrees with the reporting of a weather systems in Alabama... Source: The Streamable
Ed Norton is joining the cast of the Netflix original Knives Out 2. Read: /Film
Stacey Abrams novel While Justice Sleeps is being adapted into a series. Read: Deadline
The next obvious step in the career of singer Demi Lovato was that she would go hunting UFO's in a new series for Peacock. Read: Uproxx
US dance show Come Dance With Me will film in Melbourne next month. Read: TV Tonight