Soft Bill Maher retreats. 'Big man' delays return of show.
Soft Bill Maher retreats. 'Big man' delays return of show.
No, Real Time With Bill Maher won't be returning without writers as planned.
Under the cover of the return of daytime shows including The Drew Barrymore Show, Bill Maher announced the return of his weekly comedy show Real Time. A day after most of the daytime shows announced that they wouldn’t be returning, caving to public pressure, Maher has done the same.
Why the about-face? Maher, who prides himself on being a free-thinker, posted on Twitter:
“My decision to return to work was made when it seemed nothing was happening and there was no end in sight to this strike. Now that both sides have agreed to go back to the negotiating table I’m going to delay the return of Real Time, for now, and hope they can finally get this done.”
He’s referencing the announcement that the AMPTP and the WGA will be returning to negotiate on Thursday.
His explanation sounds a bit weasely. Instead, I’d chalk it up to an issue of logistics: Booking guests.
The difficulty for a lot of interview-based shows is that there isn’t a pool of actors and writers available to appear on the shows - they are abiding by union rules against them promoting struck work. That’s not the problem for Real Time with Bill Maher. While it does have some reliance on Hollywood guests, the bulk of its panelists are journalists, academics, and other public intellectuals. But good luck in getting much of the chattering classes to cross a picket line to appear on the show.
Real Time with Bill Maher might be able to book some libertarian and centrist guests, but most of the leftover talent pool will be right-wing ideologues. While those guests have been welcome on the show in the past, the show does need a balance or else it will alienate its centre-left audience.
Read: THR
A Murder She Wrote themed picket is to be held outside Fox on Thursday. Why Murder She Wrote? The answer to that isn’t clear, which to me makes it all seem like lazy creative. Surely there’s a stronger theme that relates to the industrial action. Was Jessica Fletcher even a member of the WGA? Read: Deadline
Sherri Shepherd has defended the right for her daytime show to return, explaining that the show doesn’t employ WGA or SAG-AFTRA members (ignoring that she, herself, is a SAG-AFTRA member for her acting work). Read: THR
Yellowstone a ratings monster
In an effort to plug some pretty big strike-related programming schedule holes, CBS has scheduled Yellowstone on Sunday nights. A huge success on its sister cable channel Paramount Network, the show is already the biggest show on cable.
Now, it is the biggest show on broadcast TV. With 6.56M viewers, it was the most-watched entertainment show of the week. Not bad for five year-old episodes. A lot of that viewership will be repeat viewers, but the show is almost certainly finding a new audience on CBS too.
Read: Deadline
But it isn’t all sunshine surrounding the debut of Yellowstone on CBS, fans have complained that the version airing on CBS has been censored, removing a lot of profanity and nudity.
Read: TV Insider
Winning Time has been cancelled by HBO after two seasons. Read: THR
The UK’s BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5 will supply content and live streams to new platform Freely, an evolution of Freeview. Read: TBI Vision
Happy 10th anniversary to the fantastic, very funny Grand Theft Auto V. Read: The Verge
After 19 years, UK’s The Gadget Show is being revamped and rebranded by Channel 5. Read: Radio Times
Richard Linklater’s new film Hit Man has been picked up by Netflix for $20 million. Read: Deadline
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem debuts Sept 19 on the US Paramount+. Read: thefutoncritic
An Only Murders in The Building interactive display is being held in New York. And there’s a trailer for it:
The Black Book debuts on Netflix Sept 22.
After his son is framed for a kidnapping, a bereaved deacon takes justice into his own hands and fights a corrupt police gang to absolve him.
In Love and Deep Water debuts Nov 16 on Netflix.
This romantic comedy mystery takes place aboard the MSC Bellissima, a massive luxury cruise liner en route to the Aegean Sea.
Money Heist spin-off Berlin debuts on Netflix Dec 29.
Quantum Leap returns Oct 4 on NBC for its second season.
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