Death of a comedy legend. Plus: Is FAST broken before it ever begins?
Good morning from the ABW home office in Sydney, Australia where the temperature is a scorching 36 degrees (96.8°F) today and I have my cranky pants on. Let’s get cracking on today’s newsletter.
RIP Jim Abrahams
He put the A in ZAZ, writer-director Jim Abrahams has died at the age of 80. Alongside his creative partners, brothers Jerry and David Zucker, Abrahams completely upended comedy on film with features like Airplane! (or as we know it here in Australia, Flying High - with no exclamation mark), Top Secret!, Hot Shots!, and The Naked Gun.
As a director, he also was behind the camera for films including 80s hits Ruthless People and Big Business.
It isn’t an exaggeration to suggest that Abrahams was a key voice in establishing my sense of humour as a child of the 80s. His movies were heavily watched.
In terms of TV, it would be a complete lie to suggest that Jim Abrahams had any impact at all on the medium. He had two notable credits - alongside the Zuckers he had a writing credit on Sherwood Schwartz’s series after The Brady Bunch, Big John, Little John. No, you are right to have never heard of it.
Abrahams other TV credit is what gets him a mention in today’s newsletter. The failed episode comedy Police Squad!. It was very quickly cancelled after 6 episodes in 1982 by ABC. On the basis of it being funny as heck, it would have forever been revered by comedy nerds. But it has a place in the broader culture as the inspiration for hit feature film The Naked Gun, which was really just a feature length Police Squad!, often re-using many of the same jokes.
In the same way that Airplane! was really just a (very) funny remake of airline film Zero Hour, Police Squad! used 1958 Lee Marvin cop show M Squad as the inspiration for it’s first episode. There’s a great side-by-side comparison video you can watch of both:
It was sad to hear of his passing, but at the same time, hearing that he has passed just makes me want to watch a few of his films tonight and have a great laugh.
As an aside, worth a read is Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! - it was a book written by ZAZ and released midway through this year. There’s also an incredible audio book version read by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker), alongside, Laura Orrico and Joe Praino, with special appearances by: Julie Hagerty, Robert Hays, Beau Bridges, Barry Diller, Michael Eisner, Peter Farrelly, Bill Hader, Jimmy Kimmel, John Landis, Patton Oswalt, Trey Parker, Molly Shannon, Sarah Silverman, Matt Stone, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Lee Bryant, Joyce Bulifant, Dick Chudnow, Ken Collins, Jon Davison, Marcy Goldman, Ross Harris, Hunt Lowry, Rich Markey, James Murray, Tom Parry, Lorna Patterson, Pat Proft, Arne Schmidt, Lloyd Schwartz, and Bob Weiss.
Nine’s FAST channel exposes clunkiness of the FAST experience
Yesterday the Nine network in Australia launched six co-branded FAST channels with the BBC via it’s 9Now app. While FAST is still a nascent viewing experience, the fact it was a big deal that an Australian TV network launched six FAST channels this week speaks to just how far behind Australia is in regards to FAST.
As per the media release (and per an ABW newsletter from Oct 25), the channels include:
BBC Comedy
From talk shows, to uproarious sketch shows and timeless sitcoms, serving laughter from every era of British comedy including Bottom, Famalam, Uncle, Moone Boy, Are You Being Served, Allo Allo, plus many more.
BBC Food
Step into the kitchen with some of the finest chefs in the British Isles, including Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater, Rachel Allen, Hairy Bikers, Rachel Khoo, and more. Where culinary creativity meets tradition, something wonderful is always cooking.
BBC Home & Garden
Bringing you the very best in British home remodelling and garden renovation, all day, every day, inspiring you to transform your living space into a dream haven.
BBC Earth
This pop-up natural history channel brings you heart-pounding action, mind-blowing sights and the wonder of this amazing planet we call home. Journey from the ocean’s depths to the world’s tallest peaks and explore the incredible creatures that shape our world. Some of the titles featured include Natural World, The Life of Mammals, Wild Africa, Wildlife on One, and more.
Top Gear
Fuel your passion with Top Gear UK and other motoring-related shows. From sliding around racetracks in shiny supercars, diving into epic challenges, to buying an old banger for an ill-fated road trip with your mates, experience and celebrate everything that’s brilliant about cars.
Antiques Roadshow UK
Discover hidden treasures and priceless stories, visiting Britain’s most sumptuous and unusual locations and discovering riches and remarkable stories in back-to-back episodes of Antiques Roadshow, as experts unveil the rich history behind cherished items.
Watching the channels through the day, it was welcome to watch some random BBC Food shows, Alan Partridge on the BBC Comedy channel, and some stand-up comedy later in the day. I could have done without back-to-back Keeping Up With Appearances, but that’s just me. The streams were all high quality and the presentation looks good on my, admittedly rather small, TV in my study.
A major frustration is that there’s no EPG data on any of the new channels. Or, for that matter, on any of it’s FAST channels. If I’m flipping on the Seinfeld FAST channel, I’d like to know what episode is playing, along with episodes coming up. It’s a simple request - Nine’s competitors are all offering the EPG info and viewers generally expect it.
Recently we also saw SBS On Demand launching a FIFA+ channel, alongside video streams of it’s radio channels. One would hope that the next step for SBS Radio is to start producing some live video versions of the radio content.
But, flipping between apps to check out their respective FAST channels is a reminder of how disjointed the FAST experience is. And this isn’t just an Australian concern - it’s global.
I appreciate that FAST channels, like most aggregator platform experiences, is governed by partnerships, but as a viewer the best FAST experience is the one that involves the least amount of friction.
FAST linear channels are lean-back experiences. If you need to pick up your remote and open an app, then click through multiple screens just to find some lazy viewing to play in the background… the incentive to watch is already stripped away.
Meanwhile I look at platforms like Hubbl and Fetch TV in Australia… why aren’t the FAST channels included into the main EPG offer on the platform? The platforms are sold on the promise of making the viewing experience easier for the customer. And with these channels ad-supported, isn’t an increase in viewership to the benefit of the TV networks & apps offering them?
Meanwhile, any viewer with a Samsung TV is just getting a robust FAST experience baked into the linear channel experience. If I’m on Samsung, why am I channel surfing anywhere else?
Following last year’s “Scandoval”, Bravo has announced that a new season of Vanderpump Rules will feature an entirely new cast. Read: New York Post
Thomas Haden-Church (Wings, Ned & Stacey) will join the cast of Netflix’s Shane Gillis sitcom Tires. TV is always made better when Thomas Haden-Church is on it. Read: Variety
Warner Bros Discovery is facing an investor-led class action lawsuit over the way it reported the impact losing NBA rights would have on the business. Read: THR
RIP character actor Earl Holliman. Best known for his supporting role in Police Woman, the actor has a place in TV history as the star of the very first episode of The Twilight Zone. Read: THR
Hulu’s annual $0.99 black Friday deal is back for another year. Read: The Verge
CBS is now countersuing Sony over Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (despite the exclamation mark, Jeopardy! is not a ZAZ production, FYI). Read: THR
David Haig has joined the cast of Amy Sherman-Palladino’s upcoming Prime Video show Étoile’. Read: Deadline
Silent River is a new John Krasinski/Matthew Rhys serial killer drama coming to Prime Video. Read: TV Line
A Harlan Coben adaptation with a difference at Netflix. I Will Find You will be the first US adaptation of his work under his deal with the streamer. Read: THR
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story debuts on Max Dec 7. Read: ScreenDaily
John Shiban is the fifth showrunner to leave Law & Order: Organized Crime. Original showrunner Matt Olmstead has returned. Read: Deadline
Fans of game show The Traitors may be keen to check out The Traitors: Live Experience in London. Read: Variety
BBC has announced it’s Christmas programming for 2024. Read: BBC
Superman & Lois airs it’s final episode Dec 2.
Henry Danger: The Movie debuts Jan 17 on Paramount+.
The Manny returns on Netflix for season 2 at a date TBA.
A busy executive hires a cowboy to care for her kids in a moment of panic. Little does she know he'll challenge her views of gender roles - and of love.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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