Wake up to a new Early Edition

Early Edition was a great premise for a show that never quite seemed to work. It had a strong cast, with Kyle Chandler in the lead, but the show was always a bit flat. The series was about a newly single guy who is living in a hotel where each day a cat comes to his front door at the same time as a newspaper gets delivered. The twist is that the newspaper is for the next day. So, in typical TV fashion, the guy sets out to help people in trouble, thereby denying the newspaper any real news and eventually driving the Chicago Sun-Times out of business. Unfortunately, the show got cancelled after four seasons, so we never saw that newspaper in decline storyline play out.

The show is getting dusted off with a reboot promising another swing at the premise. Only, because we are in the modern era, the new version is gender swapped. Also our lead is going from stockbroker to journalist:

In the rebooted version, an ambitious but uncompromising journalist starts receiving tomorrow’s newspaper today. She then finds herself in the complicated business of changing the news instead of reporting it.

Only a pilot has been ordered so far.

Discovery Warner Bros is full steam ahead

The US Department of Justice has given the all-clear for WarnerMedia to be merged into Discovery Inc. Now that this regulatory hurdle has been passed, Discovery and WarnerMedia executives are now free to talk openly and conduct business reviews. The last thing that needs to happen is for Discovery shareholders to vote in favor of the acquisition, which they are expected to.

A reminder of what this newly merged company has on offer:

When closed, the deal will create one of the biggest media companies in the country, combining the assets of HBO, Warner Bros. television and film studios, and the sports-heavy TNT and TBS networks with Discovery’s enormous library of nonfiction programming, which includes Oprah Winfrey’s OWN, HGTV, the Food Network and Animal Planet.

Law & Order SVU boss speaks out against unvaccinated

The cost of COVID-safe TV sets can add a few hundred thousand onto the cost of producing an episode. So it is understandable that producers can get annoyed when facing the issue of unvaxxed actors. Here's SVU boss Warren Leight:

To my sadness we are still offering parts to actors only to learn they STILL aren’t vaccinated (and therefore we won’t/can’t hire them). Our community has to look out for each other, especially when working unmasked in close quarters. The stream of misinformation is toxic.
— Warren Leight (@warrenleightTV) February 8, 2022

The Book of Boba Fett wrap

Yesterday Disney+ debuted the final episode of its lukewarm The Book of Boba Fett. The ultimate problem with The Book of Boba Fett is that the show needed to take a character who was nothing more than a cool costume and a job description and actually give him some depth and shade. Which the show simply didn't do. It also gave him a supporting cast of similarly under-developed characters. And then, with the fifth episode, they jettisoned Boba Fett's story entirely for what became two and a half episodes of The Mandalorian, with a Boba Fett guest appearance in the final episode. Bizarre stuff.

(The Mandalorian takeover proved to be a lot of fun, however).

Matt Singer at Screencrush:

Where Boba Fett ends and where it began — especially as it pertains to Boba Fett himself — look almost identical. Boba hasn’t gone on a journey, literally or metaphorically, and he learned nothing about power and leadership. His philosophy and even his title remain unchanged from Episode 1 to Episode 7. This isn’t circular storytelling; this is a TV show going in circles.

Nick Wanerski at The AV Club has some reasonable questions:

The Book Of Boba Fett ended exactly as it began, which is to say, mostly a mess. But “In The Name Of Honor” had the good sense to minimize the unearned characterizations and befuddling plot choices in favor of an all-out brawl across Mos Espa. Why, again, does Boba Fett want to rule over the planet that’s farthest from the bright center of the universe? What does a Daimyo do? If your crime empire won’t sell drugs because of your deep concern for the people of the community, what crime are you in charge of? Distributing bootleg Beanie Babies? Why are these gang members so wholesome? Who knows, but at least Boba Fett finally made good use of his jet pack.

Even if you want to argue that The Mando stuff was just a wandering diversion that the show took before getting back to the business of Boba, the final action sequence completely destroys that weak argument.

Here's Alan Sepinwall from Rolling Stone:

And even in the action stuff, Team Mandalorian upstages Team Boba. At first, it seems as if the show has very smartly arranged for Mando and Grogu to defeat the first Scorpanek so that Boba will get the climactic victories over the other droid, plus Cad Bane. But after Cad has been dispatched, we cut right back to Mando and Grogu having to deal with the angry Rancor. The season’s final splashy victory belongs not to the ostensible main character of the show we are watching, but to the two Very Special Guest Stars in whom we were more invested all along.

If, like me, you turned off the episode as the credits were rolling, you probably forgot to consider that there would be a mid-title sequence...

RIP Entertainment Weekly (the magazine - the brand lives on)

The print magazine of iconic entertainment mag Entertainment Weekly (AKA EW) will come to an end this April. Entertainment Weekly will continue on as a digital-only publication. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Also ending their print publications are InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents, and People en Español.

Entertainment Weekly, InStyle Cease Print Publications

Dotdash Meredith is ending the monthly print publications for Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Español, Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel said in a Wednesday m…

VarietyJordan Moreau

TeeVee Snacks

West Side Story will debut on Disney+ in the US and most international markets March 2.
Australia's Foxtel Group has signed a multi-year content deal with Discovery Inc. What is not known is whether this would have any impact on the expected upcoming launch of Discovery+. I note that I did not see the word exclusive in the announcement (outside of a reference to advertising). Read: Mediaweek
The TV show Doomsday Machine with Claire Foy playing Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg has landed at HBO. Read: THR
The great Andrea Martin has joined the cast of Only Murders in The Building. Read: @Steve Martin
That time The Simpsons bet big on the Super Bowl. Read: The Ringer

Trailer Park

Shining Vale debuts March 6 on Starz. Courtney Cox, Greg Kinnear, and Rob Morrow star.

A dysfunctional family moves from the city to a cursed house in a small town.

Light The Night Pt 3 debuts on Netflix March 18.

Detective Pan Wen-cheng continues to dig into the murder of a madam at Bar Hikari, dissect the mystery, and close in on the murder's identity while exposing more dark secrets and complicated relationships along the way.

Juvenile Justice debuts Feb 25 on Netflix.

A tough judge balances her aversion to minor offenders with firm beliefs on justice and punishment as she tackles complex cases inside a juvenile court.

Poly debuts on The Roku Channel Feb 11.

POLY is a new documentary series that explores consensual non-monogamy. The project focuses on people who identify as polyamorous or have open marriages in order to explore ever-evolving definitions of love and commitment.

Firestarter debuts in cinemas and on Peacock May 13.

The Weekend Away debuts March 3 on Netflix.

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that follows two best friends on a vacation gone awry. When one of them goes missing, the other must prove her innocence but her efforts to get to the truth uncover painful secrets.

The fifth and final season of Better Things debuts on FX Feb 28.