Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, April 14th, 2023

I wish David Zaslav loved television as much as he loves being a movie mogul.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, April 14th, 2023.

A QUICK PROGRAMMING NOTE
There won't be a newsletter on Monday and a decision on a Tuesday newsletter will be made somewhat at the last minute. Two words: root canal. That will keep me offline Monday afternoon for sure. And my experience with previous root canals is that either I'll be sore, by otherwise fine on Tuesday or will need another day to recover.

In the meantime, today's newsletter will be a bit short.

I WISH DAVID ZASLAV LOVED TELEVISION AS MUCH A HE DOES BEING A MOVIE MOGUL
I think even his biggest supporters would admit that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav loves the idea of a being a motion picture mogul nearly as much as he loves performance-based stock options. Even before the merger was finalized, Zaslav was hitting all of the movie industry hot spots, having meetings and glad-handing with the most acclaimed directors and producers. In his eyes, movies can be works of art. They are important in a way that television can rarely achieve.

So it's not a surprise that when the company touted the extensive legacy of Warner Brothers studios during its Max unveiling this week, the highlights were heavy on feature films, with a few highly-rated TV shows mixed in for seasoning. E.R! The Big Bang Theory! A bunch of HBO stuff that isn't Vinyl or The Nevers! 

Warner Bros. Discovery clearly doesn't see the same historical context for its television programming that it does for its feature films. So while much of the Warner Brothers TV catalog remains unavailable for streaming or on physical media, David Zaslav is attending events touting the company's determination to properly preserve and curate its long movie history:

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and President David Zaslav, just a day after revealing details of the new combined streaming service Max, joined industry titans Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson to tout another area close to the heart of the studio he now heads: the importance of restoring and preserving Warner Bros.’ rich legacy of film classics, especially as it heads into its 100th anniversary year. Appearing on stage at the opening night of the 14th TCM Classic Film Festival with Spielberg and Anderson in a conversation moderated by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz, Zaslav — who previously stated his belief in the theatrical experience and a return to that after 2021’s much-derided day-and-date release model under past CEO Jason Kilar — made it clear that the studio’s commitment to the preservation and well-being of the studio’s rich library will be a priority in his administration. (Turner Classic Movies is a cable channel under the WBD umbrella.)

But what about the extensive Warner Brothers television legacy? It began producing television from the very beginnings of the TV industry, although you would never know that from listening to the company's recounting of history. Only the most popular television shows are available for streaming and even the syndicated catalog (which most often shows up on one of the many digital TV channels) rarely touches on anything earlier than the mid-1970s. There is no TCM for classic television, no festival of classic television or organized efforts to preserve and promote the earlier decades of Warner Brothers television output.

The rap against streaming older television shows is that there isn't a lot of money in it. Episodes often require extensive work to get them transferred, digitized and ready for streaming. And then there are the inevitable problems with music rights and other issues that can keep at least some episodes of a show off of streaming. In fairness, the music rights are often much more complicated than simply replacing some music drops of expensive pop hits. For instance, I've been told that many Warner Brothers TV shows from the 1960s and early 1970s used stock music drawn from a library that the company no longer has the rights to use. Airing some of the shows would require stripping out nearly every bit of music, which can be extremely problematic when dealing with old prints. 

But the library of television owned by Warner Bros. Discovery is massive. And it also includes most of the pre-May 1986 MGM Television library, which Warner Bros. Television Distribution owns through its 1996 acquisition of Turner Entertainment. There is so much history in this library and so many possibilities for monetization. 

WBD could have picked one of the higher-profile classic shows that aren't available for streaming now and touted its availability on the new Max. Announce they are rolling out a Warner Brothers Classic TV FAST channel or two devoted to obscure and underappreciated television. Take the time to clear some of the music rights issues on a few of its shows from the 1990s and early aughts. Yes, it's not going to move the financial needle any huge amount in the scheme of things. But the costs would be reasonable and the impact in positive press and subscriber engagement would be outsized compared to the costs.

And if it’s worth it for the movies, why not television?

But from what I can tell, the company's management has little appetite for moves it considers to be small-time. Unless it includes opportunities for company executives to schmooze with Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson.

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW FOR THIS WEEKEND:

FRIDAY, APRIL 14TH:
A Black Lady Sketch Show Season Premiere (HBO)
A Nurse To Die For (Lifetime)
Blindspotting Season Two Premiere (Starz)
#BringBackAlice (HBO Max)
Gold Rush: White Water Spring Premiere (Discovery)
Greek Salad (Prime Video)
Jane Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
Radford Reborn Series Premiere (Speedvision)
Personality Crisis: One Night Only (Showtime)
Phenomena (Netflix)
Queenmaker (Netflix)
Queens On The Run (Fuga de Reinas) (Netflix)
Rugrats Season Two Premiere (Paramount+)
Sago Mini Friends Earth Day Special (Apple TV+)
Seven Kings Must Die (Netflix)
The Last Thing He Told Me (Apple TV+)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season Five Premiere (Prime Video)
You Will Remember Me (Film Movement)
Weathering (Netflix)

SATURDAY, APRIL 15TH:
Doctor Cha (Netflix)
Drunk, Driving, And 17 (Lifetime)
The Wedding Cottage (Hallmark)

SUNDAY, APRIL 16TH:
Alex Vs. America Season Premiere (Food)
Barry Season Premiere (HBO)
Chaos On The Farm (Lifetime)
Ciao House Series Premiere (Food)
My Clueless First Friend (Crunchyroll)
100 Foot Wave Season Two Premiere (HBO)
The Nutty Boy (Netflix)
The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper Series Premiere (CNN)
Very Scary People Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
Waco: The Aftermath (Showtime)

Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU TUESDAY!

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.