With Georgia expected to put into effect an abortion ban, a number of prominent Hollywood actors, producers, and directors have stated that they will not work in the state if the law comes into effect. This is actually a significant issue for Georgia considering the extremely high volume of productions that shoot in the state - it is a significant cash injection into the local economy and has provided a lot of jobs for locals.

Netflix is the first studio to actively state that they’ll consider pulling all of their Georgia productions. Ted Sarandos on the issue:

“We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law,” Sarandos said in a statement released Monday, and first reported by Variety. “It’s why we will work with the A.C.L.U. and others to fight it in court. Given the legislation has not yet been implemented, we’ll continue to film there — while also supporting partners and artists who choose not to. Should it ever come into effect, we’d rethink our entire investment in Georgia.”

Source: NYT

The first trailer for When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s Netflix mini-series about The Central Park Five, has dropped:

I made a couple of podcast appearances in the past week which seems to have brought a not insignificant number of new subscribers to Always Be Watching. Welcome, and thanks for being interested.

What were the podcasts?

Mediaweek - I spoke with James Manning about the streaming services that are currently available in Australia. It was a state of the current landscape kind of chat that will likely be woefully out of date 12 months from now. Listen HERE.

TV Blackbox - I joined Rob McKnight and Sarah Monahan on this week’s episode as a guest panelist. In addition to talking about Logies nominations and David Speers joining the ABC, there’s a solid chat about whether Australia’s free to air networks should join up and offer a shared streaming service. Listen HERE.

Gizmodo has a fun list of fake games created for TV shows. My personal favourite is The Cones of Dunshire.

Source: Gizmodo

This is probably the best story of the week: A tornado went through Dayton Ohio, prompting the local TV station to drop programming and carry weather warning reports for the local population. It’s the responsible thing to do. This didn’t stop fans of The Bachelor, who just had their show taken off the air midway through, from complaining on Twitter.

Meteorologist Jamie Simpson saw the complaints during a break from the coverage and had a go at the nitwits on the air:

“Think about if this was your neighborhood. I’m sick and tired of people complaining about this. Our job here is to keep people safe, and that is what we’re going to do. Some of you complained that this is all about my ego. Stop. It’s not. I’m done with you people, I really am, this is pathetic.”

Source: Deadline

WarnerMedia is continuing to slash operating costs as it consolidates its distribution channels and brands. The latest is cable channel TruTV which will see almost half of its workforce slashed.

Source: Deadline

But that’s not all - WarnerMedia’s CNN is also cutting some staff, with at least a dozen CNN staff from London expected to be cut. Those jobs will move to CNN’s head office in Atlanta. This means up to 90 minutes worth of London-produced CNN coverage will be lost from CNN International each day.

Source: The Guardian

The full trailer for DC Universe’s Swamp Thing show has dropped this morning:

David Farrier, who made the truly unique and wild documentary Tickled (seriously, make an effort to see this doco if you haven’t already), has a new film coming about the community of Hotel Bed Jumpers. Apparently it is a thing.

Source: AV Club

The final season of Jessica Jones will debut on Netflix on June 14.

And finally…

It was one of the great TV guest star roles that never was. Towards the end of the first season of Cheers the producers needed to cast an actress to play Diane’s mother. Despite taking a meeting, sitcom legend Lucille Ball turned down the part. She’d never heard of the show and Cheers was exceptionally low rating at the time.

Oh, what could have been…

Source: By Ken Levine