Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, February 1st, 2024
Don't lie to me.
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, February 1st, 2024.
I TAKE MY JOB OF REPORTER SERIOUSLY
When it comes to categories of reporting, entertainment news journalism doesn't get a lot of respect, even inside the industry. And there is good reason for that. While there are some world-class journalists covering the industry, there are also a lot of rewrite hacks and writers who wear their love of celebrities on their sleeve.
But I take this stuff seriously. While I spent ten+ years as a stand-up comedian and a few years as a syndicated talk show host, I have spent the majority of my working life as a hard news journalist. I spent time as a financial reporter and I was the managing editor of a TV station web site that won a regional Murrow Award for breaking news. And I'd like to think I bring the same level of seriousness to my entertainment industry reporting.
One of my guiding principles is that I expect some companies to spin me. Or simply ignore me when I reach out for a comment. But don't lie to me. Give me the respect all journalists deserve and simply say "no comment."
I wrote a brief piece a few days ago about the Netflix decision to scrap the Halle Berry film TheMothership. There has been some criticism of the streamer after the decision was made public, comparing the move to the Warner Bros. Discovery decision to bury Batgirl and take the tax write down. I reported what I had been told by several people familiar with the project. That it had been plagued with script problems, that substantial reshoots were still required and some of the cast were now unavailable or had aged out of their roles. The film had gaping continuity problems and for the most part, everyone involved agreed it didn't make sense to continue.
Before I posted the piece, I reached out to someone at Netflix who declined comment or even to acknowledge the now-public decision had been made. Then just before the piece went live, I heard from a higher-up Netflix PR person, who assured me the story was false, that if I published the piece then I was going to look like an idiot. So imagine how thrilled I was to read this today:
Netflix announced Jan. 24 that it was scrapping plans to release The Mothership, a sci-fi feature film starring Halle Berry despite the fact that most of production had already been completed. While the film faced extensive reshoots, Bajaria called the move to kill it outright “rare” and chalked it up to “lots of production issues and story issues.”
“Everybody on both sides, the talent and us, all agreed that it was better to not launch it,” she said. “There was just a lot of issues during production and so creatively, so everybody just felt like it was the right thing to just not do it and to do something else together eventually.”
I'm not sure what the point was of flat-out lying to me. But it's not something I'll forget anytime soon.
I have a complicated relationship with Netflix's PR and corporate communications people. Overall, I agree with a lot of what the streamer is doing right now. But Netflix makes it incredibly difficult to cover their strategy and even their upcoming titles. Although to be fair, I am not the only journalist having these struggles. Yesterday, Netflix made a presentation in Hollywood outlining their upcoming slate and they did in front a curated audience a reporter at The Hollywood Reporter described in a piece as being "restricted to a who’s who of media.
Nor surprisingly, I was not happy with that framing and wrote a bit about it today in this piece.
My wife keeps suggesting I try and be less cranky in this newsletter. And I swear, I am trying to do so....
ALL OF THOSE NETFLIX ANNOUNCEMENTS, IN ONE HANDY PLACE
For those of us not at yesterday's Netflix media event, here is a rundown of the highlights, including a title-by-title look at the upcoming English-language TV slate:
* A Man In Full (2024)
Logline: When Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker faces sudden bankruptcy, political and business interests collide as Charlie defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace. From Showrunner/ Writer/ Executive Producer David E. Kelley, A Man in Full is based on the New York Times bestselling novel by the late Tom Wolfe.
* American Primeval (2024)
Logline: American Primeval is a raw, adventurous exploration of the birth of the American West. The violent collisions of cultures, religions and communities as men and women fight and die for control of this new world - for a land they truly believe is their destiny. The ensemble tells a story of the sacrifice all must pay when they choose to enter a lawless and untamed wilderness.
* Arcane: League Of Legends - Season Two (November 2024)
Logline: Among the stark discord of the Twin Cities Piltover and Zaun, two sisters fight on rival sides of a war between magic technologies and clashing convictions.
* Black Doves (2024)
Logline: Set against the backdrop of London at Christmas, Black Doves is a sharp, action-filled and heartfelt story of friendship and sacrifice. The series follows Helen Webb (Keira Knightley), a quick-witted, down to earth, dedicated wife and mother — and professional spy. For 10 years, she’s been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to the shadowy organisation she works for: the Black Doves. When her secret lover Jason (Andrew Koji) is assassinated, her spymaster, the enigmatic Reed (Sarah Lancashire) calls in Helen’s old friend, Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) to keep her safe. Created and written by Joe Barton (Girl/Haji)
* Bodkin (2024)
Logline: Bodkin is a darkly comedic thriller about a motley crew of podcasters who set out to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three strangers in an idyllic, coastal Irish town. But once they start pulling at threads, they discover a story much bigger and weirder than they could have ever imagined. As our heroes try to discern fact from fiction — about the case, about their colleagues, and, most painfully, themselves — the series challenges our perception of truth and exposes the stories we tell ourselves to justify our beliefs or validate our fears.
* Cobra Kai - Season Six (2024)
Logline: Cobra Kai takes place over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament with the continuation of the inescapable conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).
* Dead Boy Detectives (2024)
Logline: Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives. Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases. Part of The Sandman Universe for Netflix and based on the comic series from Neil Gaiman.
* Death By Lightning
Logline: A drama series that brings to life the epic and stranger-than-fiction true story of James Garfield, reluctant 20th president of the United States, and his greatest admirer Charles Guiteau — the man who would come to kill him. Stars Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) and Michael Shannon (Man Of Steel). Based on the novel Destiny Of The Republic by Candice Millard. Mike Makowsky (Bad Education) will serve as creator and showrunner while Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) will direct. Produced by Game of Thrones producers David Benioff, Dan Weiss and Bernie Caulfield.
* Emily In Paris - Season Four (2024)
Logline: One year after moving from Chicago to Paris for her dream job, Emily finds herself at a crucial crossroads in every aspect of her life. Faced with two very different paths, Emily will have to decide exactly where her loyalties lie — at work and in her romantic life — and what those decisions mean for her future in France, all while continuing to immerse herself in the adventures and surprising twists and turns that life in Paris provides.
* Eric (2024)
Logline: Set in 1980s New York, Eric is a new emotional thriller from Abi Morgan following the desperate search of a father when his nine year old son disappears one morning on the way to school. Vincent, one of New York’s leading puppeteers and creator of the hugely popular children’s television show, ‘Good Day Sunshine,’ struggles to cope with the loss of his son, Edgar, becoming increasingly distressed and volatile. Full of self-loathing and guilt around Edgar’s disappearance, he clings to his son’s drawings of a blue monster puppet, ERIC, convinced that if he can get ERIC on TV then Edgar will come home. As Vincent’s progressively destructive behavior alienates his family, his work colleagues, and the detectives trying to help him, it’s Eric, a delusion of necessity, who becomes his only ally in the pursuit to bring his son home.
* Exploding Kittens (2024)
Logline: In the animated series Exploding Kittens, the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell reaches epic proportions when both God and the Devil are sent to Earth - in the bodies of chunky house cats. Produced by Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and Dustin Davis.
* Heartstopper Season Three (2024)
Logline: Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love in this coming-of-age series.
* Jentry Chau Vs. The Underworld (2024)
Logline: The series follows Jentry Chau (voiced by Ali Wong), a Chinese-American teen living in a small Texas town, who finds out a demon king is hunting her for the supernatural powers she’s been working her whole life to repress. With the help of her weapons expert great-aunt and a millennia-old jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), Jentry must now fight an entire underworld’s worth of monsters while balancing the horrors of high school.
* Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024)
Logline: After the park has closed, after the kingdom has fallen, a new era of chaos begins.
* Mo - Season Two (2024)
Logline: Mo Najjar straddles the line between two cultures, three languages and a ton of bullshit as a Palestinian refugee living one step away from obtaining asylum in the U.S. His family — including his resilient mother and hilariously unfiltered brother — flee to Houston, Texas. Mo deftly adapts to his new world, but it’s tough to get ahead when you’re tied up in red tape.
* No Good Deed (2024)
Logline: A half hour, dark comedy that follows three very different families vying to buy the very same 1920s Spanish style villa that they think will solve all their problems. But as the sellers have already discovered, sometimes the home of your dreams can be a total nightmare.
* One Piece
While a second season has been ordered, production has not yet begun. Expected to return in mid-late 2025.
* Our Living World (2024)
Logline: All across its thin green-blue veneer, the Earth pulses with life. Building on astonishing scientific revelations and featuring stunning footage of the planet’s incredible natural networks, Our Living World is the definitive celebration of our living planet, revealing the astonishing web of connections that unites us all and sustains our universe’s most magical phenomenon — life.
* Our Oceans (2024)
Logline: Oceans are the beating heart of our planet yet so much remains unknown, unexplored and undiscovered. From the tropical warm waters of the Indian Ocean, to the fiery depths of the Atlantic, from the unpredictable waters of the Pacific that are surrounded by a ring of fire, to the freezing isolation of the Southern and Arctic Oceans, Our Oceans explores the magical world of wonders that lies beneath the waves.
* Outer Banks - Season Four (2024)
No info available yet on the new season.
* Outlast - Season Two (2024)
Logline: A raw survival competition series where 16 lone wolves must outlast each other in the Alaskan wilderness in an attempt to win 1 million dollars. There is only one rule in this cut throat game: they must be a part of a team to win.
* Perfect Match - Season Two (2024)
Logline: Perfect Match brings together the most famously single stars of Netflix’s unscripted series to a tropical paradise in an attempt to find love. As they compete to form relationships, the most compatible couples will play matchmaker, breaking up other couples and sending them on dates with brand-new singles they'll invite to the villa. Will they create better matches, or will they create chaos?
* Rhythm + Flow
Season two is expected to premiere in late 2024 and during Wednesday press event, Brandon Riegg, VP of Nonfiction Series, Netflix, said the streamer is considering doing a live finale episode.
* Sprint (2024)
Logline: Following athletes from all over the world, this series delves deep into the psyches of those elite competitors who train to be the fastest person on the planet. We take an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the high stakes, and mental toughness of the sprinters who devote their entire lives to crossing the finish line in record time, where their professional futures are decided in just fractions of a second.
* Squid Game
Netflix released a brief teaser video and a few images from season two of the show, which will premiere in the winter of 2024.
* Stranger Things
Production on season five recently began, but given the amount of effects required on the show, it's not expected to premiere until 2025.
* Supacell (2024)
Logline: Supacell is about a group of five ordinary people who unexpectedly develop superpowers. They have little in common except for one thing: they are all Black South Londoners. It is down to one man, Michael Lasaki, to bring them all together in order to save the woman he loves.
* Sweet Tooth Season Three (2024)
No info available yet on the new season.
* Terminator: The Anime Series (2024)
Logline: 2022: A future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines. 1997: The AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity. Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.
* The Decameron (2024)
Logline: The Decameron is a soapy period dramedy that aims to examine the timely themes of class systems, power struggles, and survival in a time of pandemic, brought to life by an ensemble of characters both ridiculous and ill-fated. Set in 1348, the Black Death strikes hard in the city of Florence. A handful of nobles are invited to retreat with their servants to a grand villa in the Italian countryside and wait out the pestilence with a lavish holiday. But as social rules wear thin, what starts as a wine-soaked sex romp in the hills of Tuscany descends into an all out scramble for survival.
* The Diplomat - Season Two (2024)
No info available yet on the new season.
* The Madness (2024)
Logline: Media pundit Muncie Daniels must fight for his innocence and his life after he stumbles upon a murder deep in the Poconos woods. As the walls close in, Muncie strives to reconnect with his estranged family – and his lost ideals – in order to survive.
* The Night Agent - Season Two (2024)
No info available yet on the new season.
* The Perfect Couple (2024)
Logline: Amelia Sacks is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket. Her disapproving future mother-in-law, famous novelist Greer Garrison Winbury, has spared no expense in planning what promises to be the premiere wedding of the season — until a body turns up on the beach. As secrets come to light, the stage is set for a real-life investigation that feels plucked from the pages of one of Greer’s novels. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect.
* Unstable - Season Two (2024)
Logline: Ellis Dragon is a universally admired, eccentric, narcissist-adjacent biotech entrepreneur working to make the world a better place. He's also in emotional free-fall. His son Jackson Dragon is… none of those things. Can Jackson save Ellis and his company and salvage their estranged relationship while also doing what may actually be impossible: escaping the shadow of his larger-than-life father?
* Untitled Erin Foster Show (2024)
Logline: A comedy centered on the unlikely relationship between an outspoken, agnostic woman, Joanne (Kristen Bell) and an unconventional rabbi, Noah (Adam Brody).
* Untitled Katseye Global Girl Music Series (2024)
Logline: A years-long process of creating a one-of-a-kind girl group, Katseye, will be the subject of an upcoming Netflix untitled documentary series. With unprecedented access, the series will be a compelling portrayal of the journey to global stardom, including insight into the unique training and development program from HYBE and Geffen Records.
* Untitled Mike Schur/Ted Danson Comedy Series (2024)
Logline: Charles (Ted Danson), a retired man, gets a new lease on life when he answers an ad from a PI and becomes a mole in a secret investigation. Netflix ordered eight episodes of the Untitled Mike Schur/Ted Danson comedy series, which is based on the documentary The Mole Agent, a 2021 Oscar® nominee for Best Documentary feature.
* Wednesday
Production on season two set to begin in April in its new location of Ireland. Not expected to return until 2025.
Netflix also announced some movie premiere dates: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (July 3), the animated Nickelodeon Latino title The Casagrandes Movie on March 22nd, the kids movie Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp on April 12th), the Brooke Shields and Miranda Cosgrove title Mother of the Bride on May 9th, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on July 3rd and the Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry action movie The Union on August 16th.
AND FROM NETFLIX INDONESIA
Besides the Hollywood event I referenced above, Netflix also held similar events over the past few days in several other territories.
Here is the round-up of titles from Rusli Eddy, Head of Content, Netflix Indonesia:
"Our inaugural collaboration with the brilliant Joko Anwar in Nightmares and Daydreams also marks his first foray into supernatural science fiction. This highly anticipated series boasts an impressive cast, including Ario Bayu, Lukman Sardi, Marissa Anita, Nirina Zubir, Sita Nursanti, Fachri Albar, and Asmara Abigail.
After the success of his Netflix debut with The Big 4, Timo Tjahjanto returns with the action-packed film The Shadow Strays, featuring Indonesia’s rising young actors such as Aurora Ribero in her first action film outing, Kristo Immanuel, and Ali Fikry.
Putri Marino takes on the role of a strong heroine in Borderless Fog, a crime thriller set in Borneo, from award-winning director Edwin.
Building on the success of Cigarette Girl, we’re adapting another bestseller for the screen, Titik Nol, starring Denny Sumargo and Marissa Anita. Adding to our repertoire is the intriguing no-dialogue suspense thriller, Monster, starring Marsha Timothy, Alex Abbad, and Anantya Kirana.
We are also thrilled that the long-awaited and critically acclaimed 24 Hours With Gaspar will start streaming on Netflix next month, bringing the dystopian crime drama to viewers across Indonesia and an even larger global audience."
ODDS AND SODS
* The Food Network has signed Eddie Jackson to a new multi-year exclusive deal.
* Season two of Extraordinary will premiere March 6th on Hulu.
* The theatrical movie Priscilla, written and directed by Sofia Coppola, will makes its streaming debut Friday, February 23rd on Max.
* Netflix has canceled Obliterated after one season.
* The Paramount Network has renewed Jon Taffer's Bar Rescue for a ninth season.
* FX has announced the limited series Say Nothing, an account of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Official logline: "Spanning four decades, Say Nothing explores the tumultuous period in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles. The series launches with the shocking disappearance of Jean McConville, a single mother of ten who was abducted from her home in 1972 and never seen alive again. But McConville was only one of many others who became known collectively as The Disappeared."
*Julia Fox and "image architect" Law Roach are set to host OMG Fashun, which is described as "an eccentric fashion show." The series will premiere with back-to-back half hour episodes on Monday, May 6th on E!
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST:
* A Bloody Lucky DaySeries Premiere (Paramount+)
* Africa Rising With Afua Hirsch(BritBox)
* Chasing Flavor With Carla Hall Series Premiere (Max)
* Clone High Season Two Premiere (Max)
* Erica Nicole Clark Stand Up Special(ALLBLK)
* Fame After Fame Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Farmer Wants A Wife Season Premiere (Fox)
*Genius: MLK/X (NatGeo)
* I Wasn't Expecting A Baby! Series Premiere (Lifetime) - [photo gallery]
* Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story (Peacock)
* Lunar Lockdown (ALLBLK)
* Sabotaging The Squad (LMN)
* Three Little Birds Series Premiere (BritBox) - [first look video]
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND:
* Bosco (Peacock)
* Dario Argento: Panico (Shudder)
* Gilded Newport Mysteries: Murder At The Breakers (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)
* Kokomo City (Showtime)
* Let’s Talk About CHU Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Love & WWE: Bianca & MontezSeries Premiere (Hulu)
* Marvel's Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur (Disney)
* Mr. & Mrs. Smith Series Premiere (Prime Video) - [first look video]
* Orion And The Dark(Netflix)
* Self (Disney+)
* Serving The Hamptons Season Premiere (Max)
* The Tiger's Apprentice (Paramount+)
SEE YOU FRIDAY!