The feature has been trialed for a year or so now and now Netflix are set to roll it out to everybody - shuffling. Are you fatigued by having to make a decision? Is it too hard just to press play on one of those 30 TV shows or movies you have already added to your queue? Boy have Netflix got the solution for you: a service that makes the on-demand streamer feel more like traditional TV.

Play Something uses the algorithm knowledge that it has already built up about your tastes and serves it to you in a new way. You'll start seeing a Play Something button in multiple places within the app - underneath your profile when you log in, the left-side navigation bar, and in the tenth row of Netflix’s homepage.

Read:

Netflix’s new ‘Play Something’ shuffle feature is here to solve your movie night indecision
Netflix is officially launching its Play Something shuffle feature after months of testing, adding an option to automatically play a recommended new show or movie.
The VergeChaim Gartenberg

Joe Adalian at Vulture has a deep dive on the new feature, but I can't get through to it because of the pay wall I refuse to pay for. I'm sure it's a good read though.

I don't really understand this feature at all. Netflix's algorithm is already serving you up suggestions. Is the appeal of this that it has stripped back multiple options to present you with just one suggestion at a time? And will people be happy with that suggestion? After all... what if the next suggestion... is better?

Wolf Like Me films down under

Aussie streamer Stan has announced a co-production with NBCU's streamer Peacock - Wolf Like Me. The 6x30 show will star Josh Gad and Isla Fisher in a series written and directed by Abe Forsythe. The show is based on his own life experience as a 40-something single parent.

It films in Australia later this year.

TeeVee Snacks

  • Which shows from US broadcast networks are likely to be renewed or cancelled? Read: Variety
  • Doug Ellin, creator of Entourage, believes that HBO are ignoring the series because of 'PC backlash'. Does it have anything to do with how much those final seasons of the series sucked, Doug? That show died midway through and Ellin & co just leant right into everything that wasn't working about the show. Read: Indiewire
  • Fans of Dr Katz: Professional Therapist may want to check out the streamed live show next month.
  • Falcon and The Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland says that Bucky wasn't revealing he was bi in that tiger photo app scene. Read: Variety
  • Willow Smith has come out as polyamorous on her Facebook Watch talk show that she co-hosts with her mother Jada Pinkett Smith and her grandmother Adrienne "Gammy" Banfield Norris. Is there anything this family won't reveal on that show? I would not even talk about kissing with my parents, let alone getting on a talk show to talk about that stuff. Hollywood, eh? Read: CNN

What to expect from HBO Max's cheaper ad-supported tier

US streamer HBO Max is one of the more expensive streaming services, charging $14.99 per month. A cheaper, ad-supported version is launching soon. Today we have details on what is expected to be announced.

  • It will be $9.99 a month, four bucks cheaper than the most-common Netflix plan.
  • Ads will only run on HBO Max programming and not during movies or on any HBO series.
  • Pay TV companies are displeased that AT&T will be selling HBO content streaming for five bucks less a month than it costs to buy HBO through regular cable

Source:

WarnerMedia plans to charge $9.99 per month for ad-supported HBO Max
HBO Max will charge $9.99 per month for its ad-supported HBO Max product, which is set to launch in June, sources say.
CNBCAlex Sherman

Loosen those pipes

Julia Zemiro and Miranda Tapsell will host Australia’s Biggest Singalong! - a two-hour musical event that will be broadcast live on SBS, NITV and SBS On Demand on Saturday 5 June at 8.30pm.

In an Australian television first, the team behind Pub Choir are inviting the nation to join Australian musicians and vocalists to learn some classic Australian songs, including Throw Your Arms Around Me by Hunters and Collectors. Guided by Pub Choir co-founder and choirmaster, Astrid Jorgensen, viewers will learn to sing this Australian anthem. Hunters and Collectors lead singer Mark Seymour will join the broadcast for the final performance.

I've never sung Throw Your Arms Around Me sober, nor has any other living Australian. What are SBS planning here?

Source:

SBS to air Australia’s Biggest Singalong! Saturday June 5th at 8.30pm
SBS invites viewers to warm up their vocal cords with TV host Julia Zemiro and actor Miranda Tapsell for Australia’s Biggest Singalong!
MediaweekMediaweek

DC Fandome to return in October

Online DC convention DC Fandome will return for a second year after a successful effort last year despite it being scaled way down at the last minute.

Organizers said the 2020 event garnered more than 22 million views overall and reached 220 countries and territories.

Source:

DC FanDome Event Sets Date For 2021 Edition
There will be a second edition of DC FanDome after its successful launch last August, with DC Comics and Warner Bros saying Wednesday that DC FanDome: A Global Experience is set for October 16. The first edition came after much of the entertainment industry’s in-person events were shuttered over the…
DeadlinePatrick Hipes

Trailer Park

The Tomorrow War debuts on Amazon Prime Video on July 2.

The world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.

Hacks debuts on HBO Max May 13.

The series explores a dark mentorship that forms between Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a legendary Las Vegas comedian, and an entitled, outcast 25-year-old (Hannah Einbinder).

Season 2 of Betty returns to HBO in June.

The series follows five young women on journeys of self-discovery against the backdrop of New York City's male-dominated skateboarding scene.

Little Birds debuts June 6 on Starz.

Based on Anaïs Nin's erotic short stories, “Little Birds” follows New York heiress Lucy Savage (Juno Temple) fresh off the transatlantic steamer and ready for love and marriage in exotic climes. But when her husband Hugo (Hugh Skinner) does not receive her in the way she expected, she spins off into the surprising, diverse and degenerate world of Tangier in 1955.

Hit and Run debuts on Netflix soon.

"Hit & Run" is a thrilling mystery centered around one man's unconditional love for his murdered wife, and his dark journey to uncover the truth behind her death no matter the cost.

Mine debuts on Netflix on May 8.

A story of mystery and passion about the true identities and painful love of a group of ambitious people in the upper class. While they seem to have everything and live a glamorous life, the drama puts a spotlight on their unhappiness.

What's next? Tomorrow.