Man, there sure were a lot of d*cks in the new DC superhero show
A wild hour of TV dropped over the weekend with the season 2 return of Peacemaker. Incredible to see that after Warner Bros reboots the DC superhero universe with the recent family-friendly Superman movie, the next release comes from them with a TV show featuring its lead character doing a bunch of cocaine at an orgy with SO MUCH male and female full-frontal nudity.
I’d include a photo of what was seen on screen, but there would be so many black boxes covering background extras that I’d just be posting an image of a single big black box.
This is the most ‘safe for work’ image I could find:
It’s a majorly, excuse the pun here, ballsy move for a media company to do this. A benefit of the HBO in HBO Max with this - you’d never find a creative choice like this in a Disney+ production.
The return of Peacemaker (which was very entertaining, btw) was bundled into a large amount of media coverage around the show timed with its release. It all seemed less about driving viewership to the show and more about establishing narratives around a thriving shared universe around DC product.
There’s creator James Gunn talking about retconning season one Peacemaker material that linked to the previous version of the DC universe. Source: TV Insider’s YouTube
Questions on how The Suicide Squad links to the new DC universe, which has a through-line thanks largely to the Peacemaker character. Read: Primetimer
Peacemaker star Steve Agee on how the final three episodes of the second season are a new storyline. And, look, maybe I am reading too much into the way he is talking around it, but it does seem like he’s suggesting that the show finds a way to further remove itself from the DC world of the first season with a lean into a parallel world being established in the second. Read: THR
RIP Jerry Adler
Jerry Adler has been one of my favourite character actors for the past 30 years. He died yesterday at the age of 96.
I first noticed him in a recurring role in Mad About You in the mid 90s as the building’s superintendent Mr Wicker (a role he reprised in the 2018 revival show), before becoming a fan of his from a really dopey Tony Danza one-season-and-done sitcom Hudson Street. As I began discovering movies properly through my teen years in the mid to late 90s, I found him in one of his most memorable roles, which was as the suspicious widower in Manhattan Murder Mystery.
There was always something really warm about Adler on-screen. I never got a sense from an Adler performance that he was inhabiting a character that simply began existing at the start of whatever episode he was guesting on in any given week. That comes in part with age - Adler only began professionally working in film & TV acting roles in the 1990s, with the actor in his early 60s.
His cousin was the infamous acting coach Stella Adler and he was born into the family business of theatre by way of his theatre-manager father.
Chances are you know him from the recurring role he had on The Sopranos as Hesh, a respected associate of Tony Soprano and his crew - a mobbed up former music producer.
You may also know him as Howard Lyman, always hilarious and seen in countless episodes of The Good Wife and spin-off The Good Fight.
Or from one of his 60+ other guest roles on TV shows over the past 30 or so years.
Last year he published his memoir, Too Funny for Words: Backstage Tales from Broadway, Television, and the Movies. I reckon that one is worth putting an order in for.
Also, fun fact: He was the stage manager on 200 episodes of night time soap Santa Barbara. It was through this job that he found himself on the phone to a casting director that led him transition his career to acting.
"I was really getting into the twilight of a mediocre career," Adler told the New York Times in a 1992 article talking about his career change.
News Desk
Around 2500-3000 positions at the newly-merged Paramount, a Skydance Corporation are expected to be lost in November, delivering an expected $2 billion in cost “efficiencies.” Paramount has around 18000 staff globally, while Skydance has a further 2000. Read: Deadline
Nicholas Cage is in talks to star in True Detective season 5. That seems almost too perfect. Read: THR
Despite a season 2 renewal announcement, Paramount has canned prequel Dexter: Original Sin. Sequel series Dexter: Resurrection is apparently set to move onto a second season. Read: Variety
Netflix has unveiled five Gen AI guidelines for production partners. Read: Netflix
FAST channel industry leader Amagi has released its 15th annual global FAST report. Among the findings is increased value in live events on FAST channels, driving viewership with the potential to upsell live viewers to paid services. Read: Streaming Media Europe
MGM+ has renewed The Institute for season 2. Read: thefutoncritic
Word is that Disney is preparing for a third season of the Daredevil: Born Again show. I’m a bit dubious considering viewership on the first season. Read: Dark Horizons
RIP David Ketchum - the character actor died at the age of 97 and is best remembered for playing Agent 13 on Get Smart (he was the guy who would regularly be found hiding in garbage bins, walls, and other hard-to-access spaces). Read: NYT
Trailer Park
Hell of a Summer debuts on Hulu August 29.
When 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Fred Hechinger), arrives at Camp Pineway for the summer, he thinks his biggest problem is feeling out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn't know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one. Directed by and starring Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard.
That’s the newsletter for today.
Consider becoming a paid supporter of Always Be Watching.
Connect with Dan on Bluesky. Connect with Dan on Letterboxd. Connect with Dan on Linkedin. Email Dan @ alwaysbewatching.com or just reply to this email.
