Too Much TV: Adam Conover Ruins His Own Reputation

In the end, nearly everyone on the internet ends up as a paid influencer for crypto.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, May 13th 2025:

NEWS FROM THE DISNEY UPFRONTS
The Walt Disney Company held its upfronts on Wednesday and here are some of the highlights:

* There weren't many changes at ABC. A couple of shows were moved around, but the only real change was that the network swapped out the new spin-off drama 9-1-1: Nashville in place of last year's rookie series Doctor Odyssey. That series hasn't been canceled. At least not yet.

* FX's The Bear will premiere its fourth season on Wednesday, June 25th on Hulu. The entire 10-episode season will be binge-released.

· FX's Alien: Earth, a new drama series from Noah Hawley inspired by the acclaimed feature film franchise, will premiere on Tuesday, August 12th on Hulu and FX.

· FX's The Lowdown, a new drama series from Sterlin Harjo and starring Executive Producer Ethan Hawke, will premiere on Tuesday, September 23rd. the eight-episode season.

* Hulu's Chad Powers will premiere Tuesday, September 30th.

A LEAK FROM THE SXSW FIRINGS
Because Jay Penske and his Penske Media Corporation (PMC) own so many entertainment news and trade titles, the company doesn't get much scrutiny from the media. The L.A. Times doesn't cover PMC in any depth and you can count the reporters who have written anything negative about its business dealings one much less than one hand.

I've covered PMC quite a bit, including a recent exclusive piece on the company's exit from the Austin TV Festival. But The Ankler's Richard Rushfield once again beat me on my own beat today, posting a powerhouse combo of stories recounting the current turmoil surrounding the company.

Part one is an exclusive 11-minute audio taken from the meeting in which Jenny Connelly, Penske Media’s executive vice president, product and technology, informed the staff of SXSW that PMC has axed longtime president Hugh Forrest, along with around ten other employees. Connelly, who has been named the new head of SXSW, seems to have struck an unfortunate tone while delivering the news:

The trademark Penske management style is on full display in this recording obtained exclusively by The Ankler in which a chipper Connelly, in enthusiastic HR-ese, reveals to an assembled SXSW all-hands call of 150 on April 25 that “I have a lot of information to share with you,” then giggling, before adding, “So try and stick with me . . . Your brain might be shutting down.” Then she summarily lets it slip that the festival’s venerated leader was being shown the door along with other assorted staffers.

The speaker explains, “Today we made the incredibly hard decision to part ways with a number of our staff members . . . They reflect the necessary changes at our company to adapt to challenges and prepare for what’s ahead.” What those challenges are and what lies ahead, of course, are never laid out.

Rushfield also news about an ongoing legal battle between former board members of The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Jay Penske/Todd Boehly over control of the Golden Globes.

Penske has a number of businesses and it can be challenging to figure out exactly what is going on, given that PMC and his other holdings are all private companies.

One story I continue to work on is related to a company called PMR Bahamas Limited, which signed a letter of agreement in January 2023 for for the development of a $170 million upscale resort and residential community for Torch Cay on Exuma’s southern tip.

Penske is listed as a primary investor in PMR Bahamas Limited, but I haven't been able to uncover much more about the company. It seems to have been created for this project and it's unclear the state of the project right now. At the time of the signing, a local Bahamas businessman and investor named Phillip Simon was named as managing partner of PMR Bahamas Realty Limited and Torch Cay Development Limited. But by June he had left to become president of Royal Caribbean International (RCI)'s proposed Royal Beach Club project on the western side of Paradise Island, as well as general manager of Royal Caribbean International Bahamas, which represents RCI's other interests in the country.

I have reached out to PMC asking for an update, with no luck. I also failed to get any clarification from a spokesperson at the office of the Bahamian Prime Minister, who referred me back to Penske Media's New York Office.

The PMC corporate web site does have a page that lists its real estate holdings, but the section on Torch Cay makes no mention of any development plans. There is a contact email listed: concierge@torchcay.com. But that domain is owned and operated by PMC, making it all a bit of a closed circular contact loop.

ADAM CONOVER RUINS HIS OWN REPUTATION
Adam Conover has a reputation for being a skeptic. His TV series Adam Ruins Everything took aim at all sorts of ideas that are popular yet likely not true. And during last year's Hollywood strikes, Conover was a vocal opponent of AI and of the studio's overall stance in the negotiations.

If you wonder what Conover has been up to, Rebecca Watson has a video (and story) explaining that among other things, he's touting "The Orb," a Sam Altman creation that has been attempting to create a worldwide identity scheme by convincing people to scan their retinas in exchange for a $41 crypto coin:

So, how did they train the “orbs” to distinguish humans based on their irises? By exploiting people, of course. In 2022, MIT Technology Review conducted an in-depth investigation that found that Worldcoin had spent the previous year canvassing developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, offering the world’s poorest people cryptocurrency in exchange for their eyeballs–a cryptocurrency that hadn’t even launched yet, so no one had any idea how much it would be worth.

In some places, like Sudan, people didn’t even have email addresses so had no idea what crypto even was, so Worldcoin operators gave away Airpods. And in Indonesia, they applied to teach a class on cryptocurrency to HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, and then only taught them how to scan their irises and log into the Worldcoin app.

So here we are a year later, and Worldcoin is now simply “World,” and they’ve convinced professional skeptic Adam Conover to tell his legion of fans that they should “get orbed,” you know, if they want to. Because there’s lots of cool stuff on the app, if you’re into crypto, which he isn’t. Also, the video he posted cuts away before he actually puts his eyeball up to the orb, causing one to wonder if he’s not really into giving his biometric data to a deeply unethical corporation, either. Maybe he’s just really into money, and I don’t mean $41 of Worldcoin.

Conover tries to weasel around the ethical issues by stressing that he isn't endorsing the Orb, he has simply been paid to take a trip and "ask questions." But there is a reason why World Coin paid Conover for his video. He has credibility with his audience and it's worth a bit of money to have access to those people.

ODDS AND SODS
* He has been teasing it for awhile, but today former Meet The Press host Chuck Todd launched his Substack Beyond The Pod with Chuck Todd.

* This piece from Bloomberg provides a nice recap of the rise and fall of The Cartoon Network, although if you're a fan, there's not much in here you didn't already know.

* Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World will begin streaming on Disney+ May 28th.

* Hulu has licensed the first five Mission Impossible movies on a non-exclusive basis and they are available now on that streamer.

* The CW has picked up two seasons of Canadian-produced Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, which will air its 10-episode first season this fall.

* Krysten Ritter will return as Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again for season two.

* Vanity Fair has a nice piece on C-Span's frustrating battle to convince vMVPD's like YouTube TV to come to a carriage agreement to include its three networks.

https://andscape.com/features/for-me-around-the-horn-was-more-than-a-show/

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

TUESDAY, MAY 13TH:
Bad Thoughts Series Premiere (Netflix)
Cutthroat Kitchen Knives Out Series Premiere (Food)
Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute (NBC)
Lee Soo Man: The King Of K-Pop (Prime Video)
The Rookie Season Finale (ABC)
Untold: The Liver King (Netflix)
Welcome: Now Get Lost Series (Netflix)
Will Trent Season Finale (ABC)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14TH:
American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden (Netflix)
America's Most Wanted: John Walsh's Dirty Dozen (Fox)
Fred And Rose West: A British Horror Story (Netflix)
Mini Reni Series Premiere (Magnolia)
Rhythm + Flow: Poland Series Premiere (Netflix)
Snakes And Ladders Series Premiere (Netflix)
TMZ Investigates: What Happened To Justin Bieber? (Fox)

SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!