An announcement about the current state of television: It is back, baby!
For the last couple of years ‘film people’ have kept on deluding themselves with a catch-cry “Movies are back, baby!” when box office is still a good $10b down from the pre-pandemic. Serialised scripted TV has also found its challenges. Like film, the audience is fractured with a lot more competition for eyeballs and a failure to resonate as strongly with younger viewers as we have seen with previous generations.
One of the problems TV has faced, I’d contend, is that we have seen far less episodic product which connects with viewers through more episodes per season. Audiences have also been starved of scripted junk food TV outside of pretty generic procedurals. Instead, TV… led by streaming… has served up an endless supply of buzzy prestige short-run shows that audiences aren’t connecting with as much. TV is about characters and arcs and familiarity.
There’s room for prestige serialised drama, but when every show is prestige drama, it stops feeling prestigious.
For the first time in what has to be over a decade, I’ve actually been interested in the scripted shows announced by US networks in their annual upfronts.
TV is back, baby!
Like with TV upfronts for the past 20 years, there were no surprises when NBC announced its new schedule. We knew what TV shows have been scheduled because the trades have announced it all in recent days. New shows include two PI shows (TV is back, baby!) with one of them a reboot of The Rockford Files (TV is The Rockford Files, baby!), a comedy about a married couple (this isn’t HBO, this is TV baby), and a cop show with a slight twist that doesn’t detract from it being a cop show (cop shows on TV… TV is…. ah, you get it).
Related stories:
Why did it take so long for a Law & Order renewal? Budgets and a timeslot. Read: THR
Fox is stepping back from live action comedies – it may not have gotten the memo about TV being back. Read: Deadline
The Baywatch revival is being held back to early 2027. (But Baywatch on TV… it’s so back, baby!) Read: THR
NBC announced a Wordle TV game show several years after the once-hot mobile game format has cooled down. Read: THR
Vin Diesel says there are four Fast & The Furious TV shows in the works, with NBC confirming one is in development. Read: THR
News Desk
Two more big names announced for The White Lotus season 4: Ben Kingsley and Max Minghella. This marks a return to an HBO show for both actors and from now on I will be referring to season 4 of The White Lotus only as:
Surprise casting news for The X-Files reboot TV show with biggish-name talent hired for guest roles on the show. Steve Buscemi, Amy Madigan, and Ben Foster are among those announced. Major name casting is a departure from the original. Read: Deadline
Two cops in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office reckon Netflix film The Rip, which was from Matt Damon & Ben Affleck’s production company, paints them as dirty cops. So they are reportedly suing. Read: Complex
For some reason Warner Bros thinks it is a good idea to be making a new Westworld TV show so soon after its HBO TV series flamed out? Read: Deadline
Aaron Paul is joining the season 3 cast of Fallout. How long can this guy keep coasting off Breaking Bad… surely it’s time for him to actually book something substantial. Read: Deadline
Matt Bomer is joining the cast of The Day of The Jackal for season 2. Read: Deadline
Jimmy Kimmel Live! will not air a new episode against the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Read: Late Nighter
Ahead of its season 4 return, Reacher has been renewed at Prime Video for season 5. Read: Variety
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Netflix, accusing the company of turning its back on its promise to remain ad-free and safe for kids. Read: The Verge
The Aimee Lou Wood “comedy” Film Club has been cancelled by the BBC. Thank you BBC. Read: Deadline
Trailer Park
Little House on The Prarie debuts July 9 on Netflix.
Independence isn't just a way of life, it's a place to come together.
Sweet Magnolias is back for season 5 on Netflix.
72 Hours debuts on Netflix July 24.
A 40-year-old executive (Kevin Hart) hopes to save his flailing career by joining a group of twenty-somethings (Marcello Hernández, Mason Gooding, Kam Patterson, Ben Marshall) on a wild three-day bachelor party, after he's inadvertently added to their group text.
Sesame Street is back on Netflix June 9.
Desi Bling debuts May 9 on Netflix.
Glitzy parties and delicious secrets rule the lives of ultra-wealthy Indian expats as they spare no expense - or drama - in this reality series.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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Network TV shows have been subpar, to me, for years. Here and there a diamond in the rough, which would always get cancelled. This year though have been *two* that I am enjoying greatly; the writing isn't from a workbook, the actors are more than just pretty. RJ Decker on ABC and Memory of a Killer on Fox. I have renewed interest in the shows networks are coming out with, including the two PI ones on NBC. NBC has been the crappiest of them all but am hoping they have changed as well.