What were you doing on Nov 7 2021? If you don't remember, here's something you can more than likely scratch off the list of posisble activities: Watching the debut of Showtime series American Rust.

This is a series that starred Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney. According to its synopsis, the show was about a Police Chief who becomes comprimised when the son of the woman he loves is accused of murder. Reviews at the time complemented the show for being a TV series that was broadcast on television. That is to say, they were middling.

In the current era of 'way too much peak TV', American Rust was one of many very well cast, very nicely shot, perfectly fine dramas that often come and go with very little audience enthusiasm. The show was quietly cancelled by Showtime early this year and really, that should be the last we ever really heard of it.

But for some reason it is coming back. Amazon's FreeVee service in the US has greenlit a second season. Consider all of those great one season wonder shows you have loved and said goodbye to, now consider this triumph of indifference.

“’American Rust’ is exactly the type of gritty and engaging storytelling Amazon Freevee audiences love, and we could not be more excited to bring this prestige series to our customers, free of charge,” said Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, co-heads of content and programming at Amazon Freevee. “We can’t wait to dive in with Boat Rocker and Dan Futterman to continue the story that intrigued audiences during the first season, and to see the evolution of characters so expertly portrayed by Jeff and Maura in this next chapter.”

Will this show find an audience on FreeVee? Maybe? Perhaps? I understand every network and streamer is searching for its middle-America Yellowstone, but it's difficult to see this one as doing much of anything for Amazon.

Amazon Freevee Picks Up ‘American Rust’ Starring Jeff Daniels for Season 2 After Showtime Cancellation
Amazon Freevee is bringing back “American Rust” for Season 2 following the show’s cancellation at Showtime. “American Rust,” based on the Philipp Meyer novel of the sa…
VarietyJoe Otterson

Disney head of TV Peter Rice fired

Industry big-shot Peter Rice was the most senior TV exec at Disney. He was a strong contender to replace Bob Chapek, should the company decide not to stick with its chief at the conclusion of his contract next year. Rice, last year, re-upped his contract at Disney.

Why was Rice shown the door? Disney spin has it that Rice was a bit of a bully and that everyone loved Rice's colleague Dana Walden and her exceptional talent. But word within Disney has it that Rice may have been making moves to set himself up as the natural successor to Chapek.

You've all seen TV shows before. You can see how this one played out...

Dana Walden today has a really fancy new job.

Peter Rice’s Firing Was All About Dana Walden — Except the Parts Where It Wasn’t
Disney didn’t love all that Rice-replacing-Chapek chatter, but what the company really likes is Walden’s show selection and relationships with top TV talent.
IndieWireTony Maglio
  • Colin Farrell will star in Apple TV+ series Sugar. Read: THR
  • Streaming underdog service AMC+ will launch across central and eastern europe through 2023. Read: The Streamable
  • Anders Holm (Workaholics) has joined Disney+'s upcoming show about Dr Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. Read: Variety
  • Random thought for the day: Does anyone else think it's weird that Hollywood doesn't have a Police Academy reboot in the works with, lets say a couple of guys from Workaholics, Tiffany Haddish, and

Dirty Daddy: The Bob Saget Tribute debuts Friday (today) on Netflix.

Entergalactic is an animated series tie-in to the upcoming Kid Cudi album of the same name.

That's it for today and another week of ABW. Next week: more newsletter. But there will also be the Always Be Streaming newsletter in your inbox later today.