Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, February 21st, 2025

Welcome to the Chili's Cinematic Universe

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, February 21st, 2025:

READER FEEDBACK
Comments continue to come in about my reporting on how Hollywood's media companies are handling the Trump Administration's push towards eliminating DEI and diversity programs via an executive order.

Here is another reader weighing in on the legality of the EO's:

Love your newsletter. For correction an EO is DEFINITELY law. As are rules and regulations promulgated by agencies, until suspended or overturned by a court. Legislation is only one source of law. The constitution vests much law power in the executive as does Congress via statute. Even the Judiciary has sources of law (common law, natural law).

I'll be honest, I have heard from over a dozen lawyers on this issue and there doesn't seem to be a consensus. Some say EOs are definitely law, some insist they aren't. And a couple of people argue it depends.

And I suppose this confusion is a good example of the tension being felt at the network and studios. What do you believe and how willing are to gamble that you take on the situation is correct?

SPEAKING OF DEI PROGRAMS IN HOLLYWOOD
John Ridley has penned an op-ed for Deadline arguing that the recent DEI decline will harm diversity gains in Hollywood. As you might expect, he doesn't pull any punches and it's worth reading the entire thing:

This is a missive for the future. For the next time. To all the suits who are pink-slipping the promises you offered up to us: The next time there is generational pain among the marginalized — and trust me, there will be a next time — don’t come to us with your empty talk of change. Don’t show up with your focused-grouped slogans about us “all standing as one” and how we’re “better together” right before you flash your corporate logo. In our current rearview mirror we can see that for what it was: nothing but a cash grab disguised as empathy.

When there are voices here in Hollywood — voices who are outside of the prevailing culture but who need to create, need to speak out, need to speak up so that ALL OF US CAN BE SEEN…. Next time don’t tell us how “this time” is going to be different from last time ‘cause we are living through “last time” right now.

You want to be there for us, be there. But being there isn’t a marketing ploy, or a fad, or this year’s copy of last year’s hit show. It is a commitment to stand and fight irrespective of the consequences ‘cause
the fight is right.

It's a great piece and if anyone reading this would like to write a guest column for me - no matter what your point of view - I'd love to see it. Email me at rick@allyourscreens.com

DR. DREW IS A SHAMEFUL QUACK
While it might be hard to remember now, there was a time when the talk show Loveline was one of the hottest pop culture events. Co-hosted by Adam Corolla and Dr. Drew Pinsky, the series aired for five seasons on MTV and on radio for even longer. It was one of the most successful non-political radio shows of all time and a large part of its success was the chemistry between the crass and sarcastic Corolla and Dr. Drew's more open and inclusive approach to sensitive topics, such as sex and complicated untraditional relationships.

But as SFGATE columnist Drew Magary writes, Dr. Drew is a much different man in 2025:

I was not always so hostile toward Pinsky. I first knew Dr. Drew as the co-host of “Loveline,” which ran from 1984 to 2016 and was not only one of the most successful radio shows of its time, but also one of the best. Pinsky’s co-host Adam Carolla was the funny one, while Dr. Drew served as the grownup on hand. He was a kindly family doctor, working at a hospital in Pasadena by day and by night giving his firm but friendly opinion to callers that no, they shouldn’t have sex while on meth even if f—king on meth feels amazing. He was smart, compassionate and accessible. An excellent complement to Carolla’s dirtbag college roommate energy. I liked that Dr. Drew. I might have even wanted him to be my general practitioner.

But the “Loveline”-era Dr. Drew is now a definitive remnant of the past. Carolla has spent the past decade mutating into a hacky-ass MAGA shock jock, but Pinsky has him bested in terms of flagrant, damaging assholery. He still runs a private practice, but moonlights as a MAGA-friendly turd with lousy taste in diagnostics. He gleefully endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for secretary of Health and Human Services (“Bobby Kennedy wants to untangle the corruption. He is an attorney who is an expert in taking big corporations, examining them, and taking out the corrupting influences. Don’t we all want that?”). He endorsed GlaxoSmithKline products to his audience without telling them that the pharma giant had paid him to do so. He joined a scuzzy company that sells bogus detox meds and runs a dating service for unvaccinated people called Unjected (catchy!). And he’s also worked on, by my count, at least eight reality TV shows, including “Celebrity Sex Rehab” on VH1. This is somehow the least offensive factoid in this paragraph.

WELCOME TO THE CHILI'S CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
Branded television is an increasingly common way to pay for programming, but most of the time the "branded" part consists of product placement and maybe some mentions in the script. But there are some programs that take branding to the next level, such as the 15-minute rom-com film I'll Be Home For National Margarita Day, which was produced by Chili's and will air on Lifetime:

Chili’s 15-minute short film tells the story of Liz (Maria Menounos) and Sam (Taye Diggs), former lovers who are reunited at the local Chili’s when Liz returns to the small town of Ferguson Falls to escape the big city’s overpriced margaritas. Everything appears to be perfect until a big-city developer plans to build condos to upend the town’s National Margarita Day traditions. Liz and Sam work together to stop the developer and rekindle their relationship in the process.

I don't even know where to start with this one....although I can't wait to see the sequel, It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Boneless Wings Night.

ODDS AND SODS
* Deadline is reporting that the Freevee series Jury Duty has already completed production on a second season, which will premiere later this year once Freevee shuts down and its original programs move to Prime Video. Here is the logline, according to the outlet: "Details are being kept under wraps but we hear that the theme of the new installment is David vs. Goliath. Taking inspiration from classic 1980s movies such as Animal House and Caddyshack, it is about a small business going on a company retreat, with the real, unsuspecting person tested when a Goliath suddenly shows up, sources said."

* PBS is teaming up with Australian public broadcaster ABC on natural history series Ages of Ice.

* The animated film The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim will begin streaming Friday, February 28th on Max.

* Prime Video has opted not to renew the Margo Martindale comedy The Sticky for a second season.

* Fox has renewed the game show The Quiz With Balls for a second season.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST:
A Thousand Blows (Hulu)
Chris Distefano: It's Just Unfortunate (Hulu)
Fur Babies Series Premiere (NatGeo Wild)
Nigel Ng: The Haiyaa Special (Hulu)
Onside: Major League Soccer Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
Pantheon Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
Surface Season Two Premiere (Apple TV+)
The Wrong Obsession (LMN)
The United States Of Rugby Series Premiere (The Roku Channel)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND, 2025:
56th NAACP Image Awards (CBS)
I Am Joe Frazier (The CW)
My Amish Double Life (Lifetime)
The Wish Swap (Hallmark)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD, 2024:
Bar Rescue Season Premiere (Paramount)
Grosse Pointe Garden Society Series Premiere (NBC)
Murder At The Lighthouse (Lifetime)
1923 Season Two Premiere (Paramount+)
No Taste Like Home With Antoni Porowski Series Premiere (NatGeo)
Suits LA Series Premiere (NBC)
The Americas (NBC)
The Baldwins Series Premiere (TLC)
The Food That Built America Season Premiere (History)
31st Annual SAG Awards (Netflix)

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH, 2025:
Beyond The Gates Series Premiere (CBS)
Posso Entrare? An Ode To Naples (Hulu)

SEE YOU ON MONDAY!