Ryan Coogler's The X-Files is happening!
Also: The BAFTA's incident, and everything old (on TV) is new again in London
The X-Files reboot from Ryan Coogler has been given a green light by Hulu. I don’t know who really thought the show wouldn’t go ahead, but it is now official. At this stage, it is only for a pilot, but it would be very surprising if this doesn’t go to series.
Coogler is confirmed to write and direct the pilot episode.
Jennifer Yale will serve as showrunner of the series, coming off Peacock’s dumped-over-Christmas original drama The Copenhagen Test. I’m not sure that this is good news considering that The Copenhagen Test was rubbish.
The show will serve as a direct sequel to the TV show, but I am left wondering whether the new version plans to ignore the 2016 reboot of the show. Here’s the synopsis:
The new show’s official description: “Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”
“Long-shuttered” is a phrase I’d use to mean a period longer than just a decade. But I may be reading too much into that.
Danielle Deadwyler, who I remember liking a lot in HBO drama Station Eleven, will co-star in the series opposite a yet-to-be-revealed (yet to be cast?) actor.
The best news about this is that OG series creator Chris Carter is on board as a name-only executive producer. I would never suggest that he was the weakest writer on the show, but that guy was far from the series strongest. That said, I’d be pretty happy if they gave him an episode or two to direct – he’s actually a pretty good director.
I’m very enthused about Coogler coming aboard a reboot of the show. This is a series that means a lot to me and Coogler, one of the most talented artists working in film right now, is hugely passionate about the show. The series got to be beyond stale by the end of its original run and that reboot was pretty patchy (with a whole lot of middling-to-terrible episodes sitting alongside a much smaller number of the series best). Concerns about Yale as showrunner notwithstanding, I’m very into this.
The value of ‘Newstalgia’ at the London TV Screenings
The London TV Screenings are currently underway, running for six days. It’s an invite-only event, with buyers invited from around the world to see screenings, showcases, and other events. It’s where deals are done on upcoming shows and formats.
This sort of wheeling and dealing used to happen at MIPTV, an off-shoot from trade show MIPCOM. But with deals to be done earlier in the year in London, the heat moved away from France. MIPTV held its final event in April, 2024.
Stewart Clarke has a write-up at Deadline with a hook that the London TV Screenings have now become a must-attend event. In the piece he highlights some of the titles that will be pushed by studios and distributors. But what caught my interest is the real money-earner of the event….
While buzzy titles drive subscription sign-ups, it is the library titles that drives the viewing hours on streaming services. Clarke spoke with WBD content sales chief David Decker about the WBD’s focus on its very good library of titles:
WBD uses the Screenings for internal as well as client-facing events, with a big European sales meeting in the diary. In terms of its lineup for buyers, the focus is on movies, new seasons of series that are performing, and unearthing gems from the catalog.
“We have The Pitt, which is doing incredibly, incredibly well and Abbott Elementary on ABC that is also doing very well,” says Decker. “Then we have library shows that are resonating like never before. We have Big Bang Theory and Friends, which we sell globally, and we also have Gilmore Girls, which has had this resurgence. We’re having a lot of meetings about how to really amplify that.”
If ‘newstalgia’– meaning old series that find new generations of fans – has become a trend, then the studios are well placed given the vast breadth of their catalogs. Buyers picking up classics also speaks to how the scripted industry has evolved now we are on the other side of Peak TV. “With fewer new series available widely in the market, because streamers tend to take longer-term licenses, and fewer episodes being produced for traditional broadcast television, the resilience of libraries like ours is evident,” says Decker.
He identifies some classics that are coming back to life. “ER continues to resurface, especially with The Pitt and that appetite for medical dramas. We’ve actually revived another show by John Wells called Third Watch. You’ll see these shows resurface. We’re actually spending a lot of time remastering them, re editing them, cleaning them up, working with the producers to bring them to contemporary standards.”
While WBD is dusting off older library titles, fingers are crossed that they get to work on some of those great titles that are sitting on a shelf hampered by licensing and other rights issues – China Beach and Tales From The Crypt are two titles that come immediately to mind.
Also, why aren’t 90s sitcoms like Veronica’s Closet and Suddenly Susan not being trotted out?
I’m pretty sure the V and V: The Final Battle mini-series are just sitting there waiting to be licensed… I’d remind TV programmers reading this newsletter that there isn’t a more relevant US TV drama available right now…
Come on, BBC. Do better.
There’s an unfortunate controversy underway right now with the BBC’s broadcast of an awkward incident at the BAFTA’s.
As Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took to the stage to present the award for best visual effects, in the background viewers could hear someone calling out the ‘n word.’ Yeah, that one.
That, in itself, is unfortunate. The person shouting it out was a gentleman named John Davidson who was in the room as the subject of nominated documentary I Swear, which is about Tourette Syndrome.
In a statement he issued after the event:
I am, and always have been deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning.
I was in attendance to celebrate the film of my life, I SWEAR, which more than any film or TV documentary, explains the origins, condition, traits and manifestations of Tourette Syndrome. I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette’s community and to teach empathy, kindness and understanding from others and I will continue to do so. I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.
Throughout the night attendees and viewers alike were advised that they may hear some involuntary language in the background. There’s obviously a balance that needs to be struck in situations like this where nobody wants to cause offence, but also at an event celebrating a documentary about the struggle of living with Tourette Syndrome, it would be awfully hypocritical to force a man with it out of the room (and thus away from microphones). As Davidson said, he opted to take himself out of the room, which is a decision that really only he should be the one to make.
At the same time, it is language that can cause offence. And it certainly did on the night. In a series of tweets, Sinners production designer Hannah Beachler wrote:
“I keep trying to write about what happened at the BAFTAs, and I can’t find the words. The situation is almost impossible, but it happened 3 times that night, and one of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner after the show,” she wrote. “And a third time at a Black woman. I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation. I know we must handle this with grace and continue to push through. But what made the situation worse was the throw away apology of ‘if you were offended’ … at the end of the show. Of course we were offended…but our frequency, our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher level than what happened. I am not [steel], this did not bounce off of me, but I exist above it. It can’t take away from who I am as an artist.”
She was offended, upset, and understanding. Conflicting emotions. Altogether human.
Where a crucial part of the controversy comes into this, fairly, I’d say, is the way that the BBC opted to broadcast it. As the BAFTA Awards went out on BBC One and on-demand via iPlayer, it kept the offending language in the broadcast. The award show was on a two-hour delay, which is plenty of time for the BBC to get in there are alter the show. I don’t think it would have been inappropriate to have bleeped the words being said by Davidson.
The two-hour delay gave the BBC time to remove Akinola Davies Jr shouting “Free Palestine” and host Alan Cumming comparing the themes of Zootopia 2 (“Lies, corrupt leaders, poisoning and persecution of a race”) to contemporary America.
After the public outcry, the BBC is now set to edit the version playing out in iPlayer. Maybe they can edit back in the other sections they took out.
You can read more: Indiewire | THR | Variety | Deadline | The Guardian
Related/Unrelated:
This is completely unrelated to the John Davidson story, but it came to mind only because Delroy Lindo was involved and the specific language used…
There’s a really great scene from The Good Fight with Lindo’s character Adrian Boseman making an appearance on a Fox News type of network where he’s on a panel discussing racism where he is asked why white people can’t say the n-word.
News Desk
Paramount has sweetened its offer for Warner Bros Discovery, but it isn’t known just how sweet that is yet. A statement is expected before the market opens tomorrow. Read: Deadline
Questionable health researcher and media identity Dr Peter Attia has resigned from CBS effective immediately. It follows the release of his many exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein being revealed in the most recent email tranche. Read: THR
HBO has acquired doco The Slightest Touch, which features Colin Farrell and his good friend Emma Fogarty running a marathon. Fogarty is a epidermolysis bullosa survivor. Read: Deadline
The BBC has commissioned a new show about journalists and national security from the creators of Blue Lights, Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn. Read: Radio Times
Apple TV has picked up Israeli series Unconditional. Read: Deadline
PBS show Reading Rainbow has been picked up for 24 episodes following a short four-episode run on Sony’s YouTube channel KudZuko. Read: THR
Netflix has announced a live rematch for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquaio on September 19 at The Sphere. Read: Deadline
Trauma: Life in the ER, a reality show that aired on TLC between 1997-2002, found success in the wake of scripted drama ER. Now it is looking for a return to TV in the wake of The Pitt. Read: Deadline
No, that title card at the end of the season finale of A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms doesn’t mean the show is changing its name for season two. Read: Variety
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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