Suits LA cancelled because it wasn't on Netflix
The week ahead of us is the US TV Upfronts, which is when the TV networks pitch advertisers on all the incredible [sic] shows that will debut in the upcoming TV season.
This used to be a far more exciting time, with show announcements and cancellations made. But with cultural attention shifting away from broadcast TV over the past 20 years, it has been some time since the Upfronts were especially interesting.
That said, post US actor and writer strikes, there has been more heat around US broadcast than there has been for quite some time, so there is a little bit more energy now than there had been. The difference being that now it is less about the show availability on the linear channels and is now about multi-channel distribution of shows.
Here’s the schedule for the week ahead:
Monday, May 12
10:30 a.m. – NBCUniversal (Radio City Music Hall)
4 p.m. – Fox (Hammerstein Ballroom)
6:30 p.m. – Amazon (Beacon Theatre)
Tuesday, May 13
11:30 a.m. – TelevisaUnivision (Hall des Lumières)
4 p.m. – Disney (North Javits Center)
Wednesday, May 14
10 a.m. – Warner Bros Discovery (Theater at Madison Square Garden)
2 p.m. – Netflix (Perelman Performing Arts Center)
5:30 p.m. – YouTube Brandcast (Lincoln Center)
With NBCU and Fox up first, it meant that the weekend saw a slew of cancellations and pickups announced.
First, lets focus on all the TV show murdering that NBC did over the weekend:
Suits LA has been canned after just one season. The lesson here is people were watching the show because it was on Netflix and not because they had finally fallen in love with the Suits IP. Read: THR
Sitcom Lopez vs Lopez has been cancelled after three seasons at NBC. Read: TV Line
NBC’s Night Court revival was put out of its misery after three seasons. Great supporting cast. Terrible show. Read: Deadline
The Irrational has been cancelled at NBC after two seasons. Read: TV Line
NBC also canned Found after two seasons. Read: Variety
In the circle of life, where one TV network cancels, another births new shows:
In great news for Josh Charles fans (that’s me), he’s fronting a Doc Martin remake for Fox in the US, retitled as Best Medicine. That title is dumb - Fox, lets just call it Doc Martin. Read: THR
Fox has greenlit The Faithful, a limited series from EP Carol Mendelsohn (CSI). It’s a six-episode limited series based retelling Genesis through the eyes of women. Read: THR
That wasn’t the only news from Fox…
Fox has greenlit more seasons of Universal Basic Guys, Grimsburg,” and Krapopolis. That leaves The Great North as the only Fox animated show left without a renewal... Read: Variety
Television murder and birth week continues throughout the week.
OG Thomas The Tank Engine is back with a new episode - it’s oldest
Good news Thomas The Tank Engine fans. The 1983 pilot episode has been discovered and fully restored from its 35mm print. It had been discovered by accident in storage.
Producer Ian McCue spoke to the BBC:
"I think that you can see that there's teething problems that they would have had had they not done that [the pilot]," he explained.
"It was a very smart move to do that and to make sure everything was good for when they started season one.
"So obviously smoke coming from behind Thomas's face plate, and I know that, having talked to some of the crew that worked on it, they had problems with the radio control devices not getting through the actual engine builds."
He added: "But I think there's a sort of a lovely charm and innocence about it, and I think even as a pilot, as a test piece, it still has that lovely, classic, timeless story to it, and the voices, everything is just so delightful."
The episode is now available on YouTube to stream:
News Desk
CoStar will pay $4.43 a share for Domain, the Australian real estate site owned by Nine Entertainment Group. Nine will receive $1.4 billion for its 60.1% stake.and will give roughly half of that (around) $777 million back to shareholders. The question is now how Nine will invest the money back in the business? Read: AFR
Among the winners at the BAFTA TV Awards: Baby Reindeer, Rivals, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and Blue Lights. Read: THR
Last week in the newsletter I argued that HBO should be making sitcoms. Here’s James Hibberd in The Hollywood Reporter today on the continued presence of the multicam sitcom format on TV and why it will never die.
While Megalopolis is still playing in cinemas (even in limited, roadshow screenings), Francis Ford Coppola is refusing a home video release. No streaming. No DVD. No Bluray. Read: GQ
If you have a hunger for a really good Tony Gilroy interview where he discusses Andor, here he is at The AV Club talking about the epic episodes we saw this past week.
Voice actors across Europe are starting to freak out about the likelihood of AI replacing them. Read: THR
Harriet Dyer says there will be a time jump of a few years when season three of Colin From Accounts returns. Read: Radio Times
Who are the frontrunners for the BBC’s chief content role with Charlotte Moore leaving? Read: Deadline
The live action Ted show continues on and will now be joined by an animated show on Peacock. Read: THR
I thought we were done with The White Lotus culture articles, but here is THR advising what you can expect if you checked into Thailand’s Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. Spoiler: There’s fewer monkeys than you’d expect (based on the show).
Netflix and Que Minh Luu’s conscious uncoupling is now very much uncoupled with her supposed consulting role no longer happening. As per TV Tonight.
Trailer Park
The Survivors debuts on Netflix June 6.
When a young woman is killed in Evelyn Bay, the seaside town's tight-knit community begins to unravel as the investigation of her death exposes long-held secrets and past wounds. Based on the novel by Jane Harper.
Onyx debuts May 22 on BET+.
Three friends try and escape the daily grind and support their friend recovering from a bad breakup by going on a rural Arizona adventure camp when they inadvertently get caught in an alien invasion.
Peacemaker returns August 21 on Max.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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