Weekend television murders

Over the weekend we saw the brutal cancellation of two shows with a reasonable amount of promise.

Unsurprising was the cancellation of Maggie, a charming enough romcom about a psychic who refuses to fall in love because she knows where the relationship is going. That show has been greenlit as an ABC broadcast series, but got held back and dumped on Hulu. It's fate was pretty much written. But, it's actually not bad for the sort of show it is. It streams internationally on Disney+.

A genuine disappointment was the cancellation of the actually pretty good Paper Girls. An Amazon Prime series based on the comic book series of the same name, it took a lot of inspiration from the same 80s iconography that inspired Stranger Things. The difference being that it leant into sci-fi and time travel rather than horror. While Amazon isn't keen to stick with it, producers Legendary Television will shop it elsewhere. It would amuse me greatly if Netflix pick it up and turn it into a hit.

On television, The Show Must Go On

Peacock is moving ahead on a TV show with a really interesting, big concept. A murder mystery anthology series, every season deals with a murder that takes place in the lead-up to a large televised event.

Season one will be based around the production of a live televised performance of The Phantom of The Opera.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is on board as a producer, but the show will not broadcast the stage show in its entirety.

Season 1 is set behind the scenes during the making of a fictitious version of Lloyd Webber’s worldwide mega-hit: The Phantom of The Opera Live! As if putting on a giant, live, beloved musical isn’t enough of a challenge, imagine how hard it will be with endless production problems, warring stars, mounting network pressures, and, oh yeah, the gruesome and untimely death of one of the leads. With a murderer on the loose, and a Phantom to contend with, the whole cast and crew will have to come together to put on the greatest show of their lives… that is – if they can live long enough to make it to the final curtain…

Elton John's farewell concert will livestream on Disney+ Nov 20. Read: Deadline
Stephen Fry has joined the stacked season 3 cast of The Morning Show. Is anyone but me not in this thing? Read: Deadline
Netflix has ordered a TV series called House of Ninjas. I don't care what it is about - I'm watching it with that title. Read: TBI
The Handmaid's Tale will end with its sixth season. Hulu will continue on with the world of the show with an adaptation of sequel book The Testaments. Read: EW
Ke Huay Quan has a proper career resurgence on his hands following his turn in the fantastic Everything Everywhere All At Once. He has just joined the cast of Loki season 2. Read: Variety

Oh, and speaking of Ke Huay Quan, here's a reunion between Quan and his Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom co-star (whose name escapes me) at the Disney D23 event over the weekend:

Just quietly, I have never seen the film Willow. But it has been on my list of films to get to. Apparently I have until before November 30 when the sequel Disney+ series gets released.