Fans of Barry should feel guilty that the show is responsible for me not getting to see Silicon Valley season 6. Production won’t start until mid-2019, which may keep the show off the air until 2020.
Executive Producer Alex Berg works across both shows, with the production schedule set up to accommodate both.
Season 6 will possibly be the final season of the series, however this is yet to be confirmed.
Everyone’s favourite (eh?) comedy The Big Bang Theory ends this season, so naturally the show is making a last dash effort to shoehorn in a crossover with Young Sheldon. I’d rather see Young Sheldon team-up with Young Pope, but maybe that can be a next-season thing.
Jennifer Anniston’s Netflix feature film ‘Dumplin’ debuts on 7 December. Danielle MacDonald plays the plus-size, teenage daughter of a former beauty queen (Aniston), who signs up for her mom’s pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow her footsteps, revolutionizing the pageant and their small Texas town.
UK dramedy The Bisexual launches in the US this week on Hulu, having already aired in the UK on Channel 4 and in Australia on Stan.
On the title of the series, creator and series star Desiree Akhavan said:
I think it will turn off a lot of viewers. I want to know why that is, and to stand by it: I know that I’m playing the long game and I want you to watch this thing and be like “Oh, it’s not what I thought it would be.”
I did find the title off-putting - mostly because a show about a bisexual is not really that interesting in itself and I’ve not really heard of an additional hook to the show. The interview does have me interested in checking it out.
The Good Cop, that Netflix cop show starring Tony Danza and Josh Groban that you have heard none of your friends talk about has been cancelled.
In a post-Megyn Kelly world, the timeslot she occupied is now rating much better as a re-branded hour of Today fronted by Al Roker.
Hulu are building a George RR Martin extended universe with two different series based on his Wild Cards anthology.
Written by multiple authors, Wild Cards is an extensive literary universe edited by Martin and Melinda Snodgrass, both of whom will reportedly executive produce at Hulu. Based on a long-standing campaign of the role-playing game Superworld engineered by the pair, Wild Cards takes place in an alternative American timeline in which an alien virus released in 1946 wreaked havoc on humanity. Some survivors, the “Jokers,” were horribly rearranged by the “Wild Card” virus, which essentially shuffles the human genome. Only a few people, the “Aces,” survive with superhero-like powers.
Worth highlighting the involvement of Melinda Snodgrass, who, in addition to an extensive literary career in sci-fi, has also worked extensively in sci-fi TV with work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, SeaQuest DSV, The Outer Limits, and Odyssey 5.
The under-the-radar international spy drama Berlin Station is back for a third season.
“I was interested in exploring the reality on the ground for CIA as the foundations of western alliances have become unstable and shifted,” Horwitch explained to me of the direction of this upcoming season.
“If America wavers from its postwar pedestal of moral authority and role as world police, where does that leave CIA?,” the showrunner said also of what seems virtually fast moving fact rather than fiction in today’s world. “What if Berlin Station finds proof of a Russian plot which threatens to unravel NATO but diverging allegiances in the Oval Office discourage or bury that intelligence? Can our allies still rely on us? And if America can’t be counted on to fulfill its obligations, who will step in to lead the West?”
Michael J Wolf (not the guy who wrote the Trump book) is a former media executive and now consultant who delivered the Activate Tech & Media Outlook 2019 report, detailing it at the WSJ’s Tech D. Live conference. You can read through his extensive slide show HERE.
Established streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, already have achieved scale, thanks to deep libraries and original content. Offerings from established media players — including ESPN+, Showtime, CBS All Access, HBO NOW and the recently-announced WarnerMedia offering — will likely succeed as well, because of brand recognition, unique content and the resources to acquire customers.
Niche players like Crunchyroll and Rooster Teeth will survive as well, Wolf predicts, because they attract a loyal audience willing to pay for specialized content libraries.
In January, Disney will own most of 20th Century Fox’s entertainment assets. But what about the entertainment assets that they aren’t buying? What will the new company be called? Wait for it… ‘Fox’.
And finally…
Vulture today has a good guide to the interesting hidden visuals in the fantastic new show Homecoming.
