Always Be YouTubing - does TV now exist anywhere else?
For too many years, US sitcom The Drew Carey Show had been unavailable. It was a shame - the series was never the best show on television, but it was an always reliable, always funny hang-out sitcom.
The show never took itself seriously and always promised a fun time. At a time where TV comedies were aspiring to be the next Seinfeld or Friends, The Drew Carey Show was happy trying to be the next Happy Days or Laverne & Shirley.
Over the past year, The Drew Carey Show has been becoming more widely-available, appearing on FAST channels internationally. Warner Bros Television have been active in getting the show out there and this week unveiled a new YouTube channel for the show.
The channel launched late last week and is a mix of episodes and clip highlights. Warner Bros TV seems to be committed to uploading episodes chronologically. They are up to episode eight of the first season (which means we have already seen the conclusion of the multi-episode arc where Drew gets in trouble at work for circulating a cartoon he drew of a caterpillar making love to a french fry).
YouTube launches Podcast Charts
I’ve written multiple times in this newsletter about how video podcasts are replacing a number of traditional TV talk formats - news panel shows, sports panel shows, and late night chat shows being the key formats at risk.
The momentum for the spread of video podcasts has been driven largely by YouTube fairly organically. Unlike Spotify which is right now throwing all the money at podcasters to bring their video podcasts to the music streamer, video podcast consumption has just kind-of happened at YouTube. And once it started happening, YouTube has been more than willing to adapt.
Radio/podcast futurologist (and friend of Always Be Watching)
reached out on Friday night to let me know that on Friday YouTube launched a US-only podcast chart.
And yes, that is true crime magazine-format CBS show 48 Hours ranked there at #4. While it was one of the very last shows to make the transition to high definition video, it has been quick to embrace YouTube as a distribution channel.
Australians will be interested to see this Sky News Australia podcast at number 59 on the chat. The show launched in February of 2024 and has a strong focus on US politics.
Sky News Australia is an interesting success story in that it posts good traffic numbers via YouTube, even if its linear channel numbers aren’t especially great. Why does it perform so well? Part of it is generating traffic from international viewers (especially in the US). You can see this in effect today with most YouTube viewership focused on Trump and the UK royal family. Today’s most-viewed video is a story about the Mexican ship hitting the Brooklyn Bridge.
Something interesting about the YouTube charts is how different it is to the Spotify and Apple podcast charts generally. I’d chalk it up to YouTube’s algorithm working to elevate different shows.
You can read more about the announcement on the YouTube blog.
News Desk
The Prime Video Kevin Bacon show The Bondsman has been cancelled after one season. Read: THR
Elizabeth Debicki is in talks to star opposite Brad Pitt in David Fincher’s new Netflix film The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth. It’s a sequel to the novel Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Read: Dark Horizons
Jeff Sneider reports that there is a film sequel to 80s TV show Wiseguy in the works. How much interest could there be in this film? Read: The Insneider
Was Andor great because it showed restraint in using all the Star Wars toys in the toybox? Read: Paste Magazine
Kelly Macleod will take on the role of Millhouse Van Houten in The Simpsons with the retirement of voice actor Pamela Hayden. Read: TV Insider
FASTchannels.TV has announced a new pricing model to launch a FAST channel for just US$250 a month. Read: Streaming Media Global
Among the writers involved in mentoring the AFI’s Writers Room Ready program for 2025, are Hacks writers Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, as well as… Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner. I didn’t realise Weiner was being allowed out in polite society just yet. But, here we are. Indiewire even refers to him as an “icon.” This week is already proving to be a wild one. Read: Indiewire
A24 is working on a TV series adaptation of the Kathryn Bigelow vampire neo-Western Near Dark. Strange Days next, please. Read: Dark Horizons
Trailer Park
Mountainhead debuts May 31 on HBO and HBO Max.
A group of billionaire friends get together against the backdrop of a rolling international crisis.
The Heart Knows debuts on Netflix May 30.
After a heart transplant, Manuel feels a personality shift and explores his donor's life, leading him to meet the widowed Vale and her community.
To Get Her debuts on BET+ May 29.
In a foreign country, a mother, her sister, and her friend must take matters into their own hands to rescue her missing daughter.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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