Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, March 6th, 2023

Leave it to Slate to invent a phrase I'll loathe more than "Peak TV"

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, March 6th, 2023.

LEAVE IT TO SLATE TO INVENT A PHRASE I'LL LOATHE MORE THAN 'PEAK TV'
Every so often, someone will ask me why I named this newsletter "Too Much TV." The honest answer is that I was being sarcastic. I don't much agree with the premise that the TV industry has been making "too much TV" in recent years. I'll argue the content discovery problems viewer wrangle with has more to do with terrible streaming UX's, clumsy search algorithms and under-developed PR and marketing efforts. Calling this newsletter "Too Much TV' is a bit like launching a newsletter about the new menu items at McDonald's and calling it "Mom's Home Cooking."

Likewise, "Peak TV" is one of those phrases that doesn't have much meaning. FX head John Landgraf coined it a few years back and every year he delivers a speech in front of TV critics at the TCA in which he recounts the number of new scripted TV shows from the previous year and until this year predicted the number of programs would continue to grow.

But as you know, there is a general cutting back on production spending at all of the streamers, which has sparked a number of "the flush days for streaming are over" stories in the entertainment press. Even though aside from Warner Bros. Discovery, the spending cuts don't necessarily mean fewer new shows. What it means is opting for new shows with smaller budgets while also cancelling some expensive veteran shows whose budgets and viewer numbers no longer align.

Although I was long skeptical of the Peak TV framing, at least it made some sort of sense. As opposed to the phrase "Trough TV," which made its debut in the Slate piece today and has been shared everywhere on social media and in newsletters. So what is "Trough TV?" You'd be hard-pressed to figure it out from the piece itself:

The age of Peak TV—the halcyon days when streamers would throw money at established creators and new talents alike, and no idea was too strange to try for a season or three—has been drawing to a close for a while: Succession and Ted Lasso both start their final seasons this month, and Better Call Saul and Atlanta wrapped up last year. But it’s only now becoming clear what is going to replace it: a steroidal hybrid of algorithmic insights and old-school showbiz wisdom about what sells, resulting in a flood of bad-idea IP extensions (Velma, That ’90s Show), true-crime schlock (Netflix’s entire Documentaries tab), and Yellowstone spinoffs. Call it Trough TV, when the networks that once aimed for the stars now see how low they can go.

There is a cultural elitism in this argument that makes me furious. 1923 is an example of TV "as low as they can go?" And I'm sorry, I love prestige TV as much as anyone, but if all I could watch was Succession and Atlanta, I'd kill myself. Most people need a mix of serious and lighthearted TV. Prestige scripted programs as well as lean-back shows to watch when your brain just needs a rest. Calling everything but the absolute best programs "Trough TV" is the kind of self-congratulatory intellectual arrogance I'd expect to read in "Blueblood Today," not a publication whose culture section also recently published the hard-hitting article "I Can't Stop Laughing At This Prince Harry Book Display."

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with the Prince Harry piece. Yes, it's a bit of goofball fun that someone could describe in bad faith as "Trough Hot Takes." But I won't, because the world needs all types of journalism. And so does television.

And that's why I find this piece so infuriating. Yes, it's true the first quarter of the year has seen fewer massive hit originals from the streamers than many people might have expected. But that's a reflection of the collapse of imagination and prestige in the television industry. It's a combination of factors, ranging from the fact that Q4 was especially preloaded with the hottest shows in order to juice up subscriber numbers to the fact that the streamers are already quietly pushing back premiere dates in order to stockpile some shows for an expected writer's strike.

There's one other factor this Slate piece misses. Especially in the case of Netflix, most of its subscriber growth right now is coming from the Asian and Pacific countries, as well as parts of Europe and the Middle East. And if you look back over the past couple of months, those are the home countries for a large number of Netflix's new original shows. In the same way that Netflix dumped a large number of English-language original movies and shows onto the service in Q4 2022 in order to juice its North American subscriber numbers, the service is now making the same moves in the fast-growing APAC region. 

As for the argument that television's best days are behind it, I'll note that in the next month, viewers will see new episodes of Shadow and Bone, Yellow Jackets, Succession, Dave and Schmigadoon. Plus the new shows Agent Elvis, Extrapolations, Swarm, Lucky Hank, Up Here, The Night Agent, Rabbit Hole, The Big Door Prize, Unstable, The Power, Tiny Beautiful Things and Transatlantic. And those are just the highlights.

So if we're entering "Trough TV," count me in the "Trough 4-Ever" camp.

GREAT IDEA, TERRIBLE EXECUTION
It was a smart idea for Netflix to send me an email Saturday reminding me about the live Chris Rock special. Unfortunately, my email arrived two hours after the start of the live special:

ODDS AND SODS
* Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in the Boots: The Last Wish is headed to Peacock on March 10th.

* Bing Chat has a secret 'celebrity mode' that allows it to impersonate celebrities. 

* The Virginian actor Sara Lane dies at 73 after long battle with breast cancer

PARAMOUNT EXPLORES SALE OF BET, POSSIBLY TO TYLER PERRY
Vague, speculative stories make their into the trades for a variety of reasons. Often it's because someone believes that pushing private negotiations into the public arena will strengthen their negotiating point or force the other side into making a decision.

I suspect that's why this story was leaked to The Hollywood Reporter, which reveals that Paramount is looking at selling BET, perhaps to Tyler Perry. And based on the way the story is framed, I suspect at least one source of the story comes from Perry's camp:

A second source tells THR that Tyler Perry, a longtime partner of BET, is engaged in conversations to buy the stake. Perry’s deal with Paramount, which began in 2017, is said to be coming up, and the BET purchase, if it happens, would give him ownership of the brand that airs many of his shows.

The sources both cautioned that the discussions are still in the early stages, and there is no guarantee of any transaction taking place. They added that if a deal closes, Paramount expects to maintain a minority stake in the business, as well as a commercial relationship. Scott Mills serves as BET’s CEO.

So why leak the story when negotiations aren't just apparently ongoing, but also in the very early stages? Once again, this is just speculation. But I do know that Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios has been eyeing the BET assets for awhile and to be honest, that company is probably a better fit for BET. Allen already owns some linear TV channels as well as a number of broadcast stations and other complimentary assets. Tyler's advantage is that he runs a thriving studio that is already busy cranking out original shows for BET, BTE Her and the streaming service BET+. What Tyler doesn't have is a lot of experience in the linear TV space. And that might be an issue, given that the BET networks will have a harder time nailing down carriage deals in the future without having the might of Paramount and its many other linear networks it can use as leverage,

And while Allen's Entertainment Studios continues to have carriage negotiation challenges of its own, it would likely be helped if it could add the BET networks to The Weather Channel and digital networks The Grio and This TV.

The question for both Allen and Tyler is whether they can afford BET. Money is notably tighter and more expensive in 2023 and while the THR piece doesn't speculate on what Paramount might be hoping to get for BET, the article does note that Paramount (then known as Viacom) acquired BET in 2000 for $2.3 billion.

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW FOR MONDAY:

History Of The World Part II (Hulu)
Holding Series Premiere (Acorn TV)
Jared From Subway: Catching A Monster (Investigation Discovery) 
9-1-1 Spring Premiere (Fox)
Omega: Gift And Curse (ALLBLK)
Perry Mason Season Two Premiere (HBO)
Rain Dogs Series Premiere (HBO)
Ridley Jones Season Premiere (Netflix)
Rock The Block Season Premiere (HGTV)
Spring Baking Championship Season Premiere (Food)
Spring Baking Championship: Easter (Food)
The Voice Season Premiere (NBC)

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.