TV is starting to reinvent itself, one special presentation at a time
Hulu has quietly been upending television these past few months. It hasn’t been with anything especially revolutionary, but when you see it happen this many times… it starts to feel like there may be a new status quo of doing things.
Last month we saw Hulu drop a surprise prequel for The Bear. It ran just under an hour and provided some great contextual insight into the show we thought we knew. It was joined that same month by a one-off Marvel film, of sorts, focused on The Punisher. Running just under an hour, it delivered all the thrills of a brutally violent Punisher film without the runtime.
And now here we are a few weeks later in June with Hulu releasing a prequel to its YA comedy Adults.
The prequel episode reveals the origin of Paul Baker on the show. Yeah, I don’t know who that is either. It’ll stream on Hulu, air on FXX, and also be made available for a week on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
One of the frustrating things about the era of streaming has been how traditional all of it has felt. The only real innovation from a user experience perspective is that streaming video has delivered is the ability to watch where and when you want. Sure, there’s a few more bells and whistles when it comes to some sports streaming platforms. And in scripted, episode runtimes now vary a bit. Oh, and Netflix tried some interactive content with Bandersnatch. But that has been pretty much it.
There has been very little invention. Hulu dropping one off prequels and brand extensions… this feels a little bit new. It’s not entirely new, obviously. But three one-off specials attached to previously existing IP within a matter of weeks feels like there is a strategy attached to this.
And shouldn’t this be the promise of digital? Companion series following individual characters, one-off specials, mid-series movies, movie series with mid-run series, etc.
There’s so much storytelling scope available on a digital platform when it comes to form and structure. We are on the cusp of 20 years since Netflix launched its initial streaming platforms… why does the way we consume our stories still feel so conventional?
[NOTE: Maybe we should be doing more to tip our hat towards Prime Video’s Citadel series. That was built to support all sorts of movies and TV shows, some produced for the US, others international. The problem with Citadel was the creative and not the experiment.]
Misleading Variety headline is going to mislead
This has been bothering me for a few days now.
No Variety, the reason Jon Hamm wasn’t eligible for the Guest Actor Emmy isn’t because of the submission error. He wasn’t eligible because he wasn’t eligible. That would have been the case regardless of whether his people mistakenly filed the application or not.
Hamm was nominated for an Emmy in the supporting actor character in 2024 for a role on The Morning Show. He returned to the show for the most recent season as a guest actor.
Last year the Emmys changed a nomination rule preventing any actor from winning or being nominated for an Emmy and then returning to the series as a guest and being nominated.
The article at Variety explains all of this in a way that reads in a convoluted way because of this misleading headline. In an era where most people are only reading and/or sharing headlines across social channels, this attention to detail matters. To make the copy on your own website read well, this attention to detail matters.
For what it’s worth, even if Hamm was eligible for his appearance on the most recent season of The Morning Show, I’d be pretty surprised if he was nominated… as I recall, it was a bit of a non-event.
It costs Emmys entrants around $125 to submit in a category.
News Desk
It was mostly an expected formality, but Trump’s Department of Justice gave the greenlight to the Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. Next hurdle: the lawsuits. Read: THR
Tyra Banks is suing Netflix for defamation over docu-series Reality Check, which covered America’s Next Top Model in a less than flattering light. Read: THR
Helen Mirren says she would happily work again with her former (?) MobLand co-star Tom Hardy. Read: Variety
Graham Norton will chat with Madonna in a 50 minute special for the BBC.It promises to be an “unmissable event,” which has certainly been true for previous Madonna interviews – I don’t see this chat being likely of being as memorable. Read: Radio Times
House of Guinness has had a second season greenlit, with production to start in 2027. If you remember it, this Stephen Knight (Peaky Blinders) series streamed on Netflix in 2025. Read: Variety
George Miller has reportedly been taking meetings with Amazon, Universal, and Sony Pictures to make one last Mad Max film and then a TV series. He then plans to sell the property to the highest bidder. Read: Puck
A sealed copy of NES game has sold for $3 million. Read: The Verge
About a week and a half ago I mentioned Gene Shalit in this newsletter and was surprised to realise he was still around, aged 100. News broke over the weekend that the onetime NBC Today Show film critic has died. You can read an extensive obit at the NYT.
Gomer Pyle USMC actor Ronnie Schell has died at the age of 94. While he will mostly be remembered for his role on that show, I know him mostly for a mostly-forgotten 60s sitcom Good Morning, World. The show has cropped up on free US ad-supported streaming services in recent years and I love the opening titles. Read: THR
Trailer Park
The F Ward debuts July 17 on Stan. Because it is important that Australians are able to tell our own stories and celebrate our own culture, the series stars British actress Anna Friel.
Troubled interns get their last shot at Sydney's underfunded Pines Hospital, battling personal demons and past failures while treating patients in life-or-death situations.
Gram Chikitsalay returns for season 2 on Prime Video June 23.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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