Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, October 24th, 2024

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, October 24th, 2024:

THERE IS AGGREGATION AND THERE IS JOURNALISTIC MALPRACTICE
There is nothing wrong with aggregating someone else's reporting. I do it all the time and generally when I do, it's because another reporter has interviewed someone who I have no access to speak with. But when I do point to someone else's piece, I try and use it as a jumping off point. I work to provide context, as an entryway into my own reporting and opinions. Otherwise, I'm just a stenographer.

But entertainment journalism is lousy with examples of bad aggregation. Some outlet publishes an interview and there is a passage which jumps out when you read it. So every Hollywood trade or entertainment news site takes the quote, and slaps on a bit of lightly thought-out backstory to get to the six small paragraph length that will make it seem like an actual story when you read it. 

Now on the upside, this practice does keep an entire industry of under-paid freelancers employed. But it makes for terrible journalism. Especially when the quotes being aggregated demand some context and pushback.

I have written before about Lorne Michaels and the entertainment press's unwillingness to ask him even the mildest tough question:

One of the consequences of being successful in the entertainment world is that reporters stop asking you difficult questions. 

I don't mean unfair questions or ones that are inappropriately personal. You aren't asked challenging questions or forced to defend even slightly incorrect statements you've made. That is especially the case with follow-up questions, where you can pretty much say what you want, and the reporter will simply shrug and move on to the next question.

Sometimes that lack of hard questioning is the fault of the reporter. Because as much as it pains me to admit it, there are entirely too many reporters who are dazzled by celebrity and fame. So they are more than happy asking softball questions and pretending they are actually budding friends with their new celebrity acquaintance.

But most of the time, the problem comes down to the publication and the editors. If you are a reporter and ask a well-known entertainment figure some tough questions, a couple of things will happen by the end of the day. The reporter's editor will receive a call from the celebrity's publicist and/or management, complaining about how "unfair" the reporter was to their client. There will be threats the outlet will lose access and the best-case scenario is the reporter ends up on the "rewriting press release" beat.

I am bringing all of this up again because the entertainment press is filled with stories today referencing a Wall Street Journal interview with Lorne Michaels. And every story I've seen focuses on Michael's complaints that NBC forced him to fire comedian Shane Gillis a few years ago following what comments that Michaels describes this way:

“He said something stupid, but it got blown up into the end of the world,” Michaels said. “I was angry. I thought, ‘You haven’t seen what we’re going to do, and what I’m going to try to bring out in him, because I thought he was the real thing.'”

I am not going to recount the entire string of comments here, but you can read some of the asshat racist comments in this piece. And to be clear, despite what Michaels says, it wasn't a one-off stupid comment. And he is still making similar comments on podcasts and in personal appearances, smirking over the fact that Michaels, Netflix and others are willing to overlook what he says because he has a big fanbase.

I generally don't put a lot stock into when conservatives argue against "wokeness" in show business. But one of the complaints they make that does resonate with me is the argument that there are plenty of people in the entertainment world who will say the "right" things about racism and sexism. But when it comes down to the pocketbook, they'll overlook just about anything if it means they'll be able to make some money.

I wish the Wall Street Journal reporter had asked a follow-up question or two about this. And I really wish that at least some of these aggregated pieces would have least included a couple of examples of what Gillis had said, so readers could decide for themselves whether or not NBC made the correct decision back in 2019.

WHERE CAN WATCH THE MLS PLAYOFF GAMES? AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, THAT'S A MORE COMPLICATED QUESTION THAN IT SHOULD BE
Lionel Messi’s postseason debut is putting Major League Soccer’s confusing media-rights deal in the spotlight.

Inter Miami hosts Atlanta United on Friday night to kick off the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. Apple is in the second season of a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with MLS and while games are typically available only behind the MLS Season Pass paywall, Apple will sometimes make big matches free.

That will be the case on Friday, when the game will be free to stream on Apple TV, as will every other Game 1 of the eight best-of-three series in Round one. And to make things more confusing, six of the games will also be simulcast on FS1

The MLS Cup final in December will be simulcast on Fox, and so will other select matches throughout the playoffs.

There will also be “Messi Cam” on TikTok, which will follow the superstar and be livestreamed on the accounts of MLS and Inter Miami.

Good luck to all of you soccer fans.

ODDS AND SODS
* The documentary Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band premieres tomorrow on Hulu and Disney+ and I neglected to mention in yesterday's newsletter that I posted my full interview with director Thom Zimny. Here's a link to the interview.

* The special Honest Renovations: Holiday Home Makeover is premiering Friday, November 8th on The Roku Channel. Although if you've the Honest Renovations series, you know this announcement is more trick than treat. Regardless, here's a link to the trailer.

* Season two of Based On A True Story premieres November 21st on Peacock.

* Netflix is continuing its apparent theme of "Sexy Santa" original movies with The Merry Gentlemen. In the movie, a group of local male dancers do a revue in order to raise money to save a local bar. So it sounds a bit like a family friendly mashup of the holidays with The Full Monty. Here is a link to the trailer.

* The Agency, Paramount+’s remake of French espionage drama Le Bureau des Légendes, will premiere Friday, November 29th.

* Season fourteen of The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills is set to premiere Tuesday, November 19th on Bravo.

* The conspiracy-action thriller Prime Target will premiere January 22nd, 2025. It stars Leo Woodall and Quintessa Swindell.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24TH:
* Ancient Bodies: Secrets Revealed Series Premiere (NatGeo)
* A Nurse's Revenge (LMN)
* Beauty In Black Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Canary Black (Prime  Video) - [first look video]
* Like a Dragon: Yakuza Series Premiere (Prime Video) - [first look video]
* Star Trek: Lower Decks Season Five Premiere (Paramount+)
* Territory Series Premiere (Netflix)
* The Pasta Queen Series Premiere (Prime Video)
* The Wranglers Series Premiere (The CW)
* This Time Each Year (Hallmark Mysteries Channel)
* Tyler Perry's Beauty In Black - [first look video] - [photo gallery]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25TH:
* Before Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
* Do Patti (Netflix)
* Don't Move (Netflix)
* Hellbound Season Two Premiere (Netflix) - [first look video] [official trailer]
* Hijack '93 (Netflix)
* Pombo (Prime Video)
* Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band (Disney+) - [TIFF world premiere photo gallery] - [first look video] - [Thom Zimny interview]
* Simone Biles Rising Part Two (Netflix)
* The Last Night At Tremore Beach (Netflix) - [first look video]
* The Remarkable Life Of Ibelin (Netflix)
* Transformers: Earthspark (Paramount+)

SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!