Last night John Mulaney fought teenagers on live TV. I never saw that on Letterman.
Last night I watched 42 year-old John Mulaney fight three 14 year-olds live on Netflix. And it was every bit as non-spectacular as one would hope for.
Indiewire has a breakdown of the fight and its competitors. Meanwhile over at THR they painfully spell out the obvious that it was a letdown. The point of moments like this are never the event themselves - they’re about the weeks of jokes leading up to the event.
The rules were set at the start of the fight: no punching, no kicking, no gouging, no biting. Headlocks were legal.
And, of course, Mulaney folded pretty quickly. Because he had to - it’s not like a TV host is going to offer a beat-down on young teens on TV.
Jay Leno probably would have done it though, if it ensured keeping The Tonight Show.
The creation of an AI film
If, like most people, you’re still a little bewildered about the rise of AI filmmaking and trying to understand exactly what is possible using current technology, give this video a watch.
It is Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern showing the movie she made using AI tools Veo and Runway. As she illustrates in the video, it may shrink budgets, but there’s still a lot of work that needs to go into it. Also, you need human creativity. And even then, the results aren’t amazing. But, the current technology shows incredible improvement in what is possible.
You can read more about her efforts on the WSJ site.
Think you can paste in a script and out pops a Netflix hit? Cute. Every shot of ours was the result of many prompts and generation attempts. And to keep characters and sets consistent from scene to scene, Jarrard invented a whole production pipeline.
The quick version: We used AI image generator Midjourney to generate our sets (a suburban neighborhood, a newsroom) and to design our robot star. Then we used photos of real me to create AI me. We uploaded those to Runway or Veo, where we wrote prompts. Here’s a short one:
Low angle shot: Joanna does push-ups at a brisk pace, maintaining a straight line from head to heel. The robot stands above, monitoring and guiding.
That careful, specific wording made a huge difference. As a filmmaker, Jarrard could break down scenes beat by beat, specifying camera angles, lighting styles and movement. That nail-biter ending? Every shot was carefully described to build suspense.
And it still took us over 1,000 clips. Some were complete disasters, with anatomical nightmares and random new characters. Even in “good” scenes, my face looks different in almost every shot.
News Desk
Julia Garner will star in limited series The Altruists at Netflix based on the FTX crypto exchange. Read: THR
JK Simmons will star in a new crime drama The Westies for MGM+. And that’s fine, but what I really want is more Counterpart. Read: Variety
The Chi has been renewed for season 8 at Showtime. Read: THR
Peacock has cancelled the US adaptation of Laid after just one season. Read: Variety
Disney+ has announced a $4.99 limited deal for new and returning subscribers in Australia. The offer ends June 11. Read: Mediaweek
The BBC has picked up the second season of New Zealand comedy Homebound 3.0. Read: C21
The season six finale and season seven premiere of indie faith drama The Chosen will be released as standalone films by Amazon MGM. Read: Deadline
Ben Stiller says there are two specific ideas for Severance spin-offs. Read: Variety
The FAA has rejected findings made by HBO’s, uh, ‘comedy’(?) series The Rehearsal. Star Nathan Fielder has rejected the statement, calling the FAA “dumb.” Read: NBC News
If you live in Sydney, Australia, here’s a rare opportunity to see Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace playing at the cinema. All six episodes will screen, with an intro by Aunty Donna performer Zach Ruane. Source: Ritz Cinemas
We are the world
As far as events on the pop culture calendar for 2025 go, there’s nothing I am more excited about than the upcoming release of the new Superman film. He’s been my fav’rit for my entire life and the new film looks like it has nailed it.
It comes out in July and there is a promotional “world tour” taking place in the weeks leading up to the release. As I sit here in the Always Be Watching southern hemisphere HQ in Sydney, Australia, I’m looking at this “world tour” with a pretty obvious question.
*sigh*
Trailer Park
The Thursday Murder Club debuts on Netflix August 28.
Four irrepressible retirees spend their time solving cold case murders for fun, but their causal sleuthing takes a thrilling turn when they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands.
Not a Box debuts on Apple TV+ June 13.
Inspired by the beloved, award-winning children's picture book by Antoinette Portis, the series follows bright-eyed bunny Riley, who with just one cardboard box, imagines magical worlds full of new friends and fantastic adventures!
That’s the newsletter for today.
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