Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, February 3rd, 2022

I know...I'm very late today...

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, February 3rd, 2022. 

My apologies for the lateness of today's newsletter. Lots of news to work through, along with a very busy day at the TCAs and several interviews.

EVERY QUESTION ABOUT NFTS ULTIMATELY TURNS OUT TO BE RELATED TO MONEY
If you've been wondering why celebrities ranging from Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon to Paris Hilton have been awkwardly hawking NFTs, journalist Max Read may have the answer. It turns out they are all represented by CAA, who is leaning heavily into the NFT market:

If you pay attention to both the Hollywood trades and the crypto press, and smoke enough weed, you can begin to pick out the contours of an expanding, interconnected, celebrity-based web3 financial-cultural complex: Did you know, for example, that Jimmy Fallon is represented by CAA, which is an investor in the NFT marketplace OpenSea, and which recently signed a deal to represent the NFT collector 0xb1, who owns NFTs from Bored Ape Yacht Club and World of Women? Did you know that another CAA client, Ashton Kutcher1, is also an investor in OpenSea, through his company Sound Ventures? Or that Kutcher will be starring in a Netflix romcom called Your Place or Mine with Reese Witherspoon, the most prominent owner of World of Women NFTs, who also happens to be married to a CAA agent? Or that the people behind World of Women and Bored Ape Yacht Club are both represented by Kutcher's partner in Sound Ventures, the music manager Guy Oseary? Did you know that Oseary's other major venture these days is pearpop, a platform for connecting Tiktok influencers to celebrities for collaborations — a platform used by none other than Paris Hilton?

GOOD RIDDANCE, JEFF ZUCKER: DAY TWO
I heard from a few people about my thoughts on Jeff Zucker that ran in yesterday's newsletter, and I wanted to quickly address some of them.

I completely understand if you believe Jeff Zucker was a great executive and it's great if you feel loyalty to him or feel him being forced to leave the network was unfair or too harsh a punishment.

But here's the thing. Even if there wasn't any more to the story, Jeff Zucker engaged in a relationship with someone who reported to him for most of her career. And even when she no longer reported directly to him, the relationship was such an open secret at CNN that - as this piece in New York Magazine notes - it affected the way some other CNN employees saw their interactions with her:

For starters, Zucker and Gollust’s relationship was one of the biggest open secrets in media. CNN staffers awkwardly navigated the pairing, since every time they dealt with her, they were keenly aware that she was involved with the boss. They were rolling their eyes at Gollust’s own statement that said “recently, our relationship changed during Covid.” It had been going on for much longer: Page Six would wink at it from time to time, and the two have known each other since they worked together at NBC decades ago. As Katie Couric wrote in her dishy memoir: “I had to wonder why Jeff was angling so hard to bring Allison on board” at Couric’s talk show, Katie. “She and her husband and kids had moved into the apartment right above Jeff and Caryn’s — everyone who heard about the arrangement thought it was super strange."

I don't have any ill will towards Zucker and I agree this exit is terrible timing for the network. But if a company executive engages in behavior that would get a lesser person in the company fired, he/she should face the same punishment. It's not clear to me from the reporting I've seen whether that is indeed the case. Would a middle-level executive who failed to disclose a relationship with someone in a position below them face the same consequences as Jeff Zucker? If so, then Zucker's exit from the company is a unfortunate but reasonable response to the situation.

And his behavior is even more troubling, if even half of what is laid out in this Rolling Stone piece on their relationship turns out to be accurate:

But sources who worked closely with Zucker and Gollust dating back to their days at The Today Show in the mid-Nineties dispute their statements in the memo. In reality, these sources tell Rolling Stone, Zucker became romantically entangled with Gollust back in 1996, when she was a trainee in NBC’s corporate communications group and he was the married executive producer of The Today Show. “It was the worst-kept secret, but Jeff was seen as untouchable,” says one insider. “And their statements [in the memo] are total bullshit.”

In fact, the pair have skirted the issue multiple times in the past, and at least one investigation into their relationship had been carried out by WarnerMedia well before Covid. Yet Zucker and Gollust denied the romance “over and over again,” says a knowledgeable source, and nothing changed in the corporate hierarchy’s reporting structure. A WarnerMedia spokesperson denied that any such investigation had ever been launched but acknowledged that both parties had been asked about the nature of their relationship multiple times, including after a New York Post gossip item hinted at a romance when they were spotted arguing at a Hollywood Reporter party in 2017.

But the Rolling Stone piece has another piece of reporting which seems to provide another reason for why Zucker was forced out of CNN:

The source says the investigation suggests Zucker and Gollust were advising the governor at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in ways not dissimilar to what led to Chris Cuomo’s dismissal. As Andrew sparred on a daily basis with then-President Trump over Covid messaging, the couple provided the governor with talking points on how to respond to the president’s criticisms of the New York crisis. They also booked the governor to appear on the network exclusively, which became a ratings boon for CNN, with Chris Cuomo doing the interviewing. Cuomo and Gollust’s conduct, too, would appear to mark an ethical breach for executives acting on behalf of an impartial news outlet.

It seems clear that there is a lot more to this story and none of it is likely to be good news for Zucker or Gollust.

NEWS FROM EPIX
While Epix is still primarily known as a movie network, it has increased its original series output over the past several years. And at Thursday's TCA's, the network/streaming service announced a new slate of ambitious originals and additional seasons of some existing shows:

Women Who Rock (Docuseries) 
Women Who Rock is a four-part docuseries that pays homage to the legion of female pioneers in music who have stormed the stage, wielded their instruments, amplified their voices, and sung the soundtrack of our lives. Celebrating female artists, in their own words, on power, fame, truth, defiance, artistic expression, hard-won success, and most importantly, the insights and tales behind their anthemic music. With appearances by Nancy Wilson, Chaka Khan, Pat Benatar, Mavis Staples, Sheila E, Macy Gray, Rickie Lee Jones, Norah Jones, Aimee Mann, Tori Amos, Kate Pierson (B52s), Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club), and Nona Hendrix. 

NFL Icons, Season Two (Docuseries) 
What defines an icon? From the NFL FILMS vault in Mount Laurel, New Jersey comes a documentary series profiling NFL icons and Hall of Fame players, coaches and changemakers. Each hour-long, single subject film stitches together decades of interview archive and highlights. Spanning the icon’s career, the series dives deep into the critical decisions, plays and personality that came to define their legacy and the game of football. Season two icons will include: Walter Payton, Troy Aikman, Jimmy Johnson, Cris Carter, and more.

The Making of a Haunting; The Amityville Murders (Docuseries)
This four-part docuseries is based on the world’s most famous scary story: The Amityville Horror. Today it is quite literally the first result if you Google “haunted house.” And yet, what the public knows about this case is merely what the books and films have told them. What they don't know is that there's a real murder behind the haunting story and then there’s the supernatural tale of unexplained horrors that haunted visitors to that property for years to come.

Chapelwaite Season Two 
Based on Stephen King’s short story “Jerusalem’s Lot,'' Chaplewaite season two continues as a terrifying re-imagining of classic gothic horror that chronicles one family’s battle with an ancient and persistent evil. We will learn that the Boone curse didn’t die with Jakub, and despite Charles’s selfless act at the end of season one, De Vermis Mysteriis remains as powerful as ever, and as alluring to a new generation of vampires. 

Domina Season Two
Domina chronicles the struggle for control of the Roman Empire in the wake of Caesar’s death from a rare female perspective.  Livia Drusilla, the golden girl of the prominent Claudii family returned to Rome after ten years in exile, determined to regain everything that was stolen from her.  Now, atop a fractious empire, she must fight to preserve her marriage to Caesar Augustus and find a way to seat one of her sons on the throne as rivals new and old jockey for position in a world where it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Hotel Cocaine
Blue skies and bikinis. Sex and sand. Bullets and blow. This is the story of Roman Compte, Cuban exile, CIA operative and general manager of the Hotel Mutiny, the glamorous epicenter of the late 70's, early 80's Miami cocaine scene. The Hotel Mutiny was Casablanca on cocaine, a glitzy nightclub, restaurant, and hotel frequented by Florida businessmen and politicians, international narcos, CIA and FBI agents, models, sports stars, and musicians - particularly the up-and-coming Latin acts who came from South America with their instruments and four kilos of cocaine in their suitcases, and Compte was at the center, doing his best to keep it all going and fulfill his own American Dream. 

Black Harvest 
Paris, 1952: A popular and provocative Black American author and his equally-talented, but as-yet-unpublished girlfriend arrive with plans to attend the Pan African conference and to get a break from American racism, only to find themselves in the middle of a series of abductions and murders of black men. What at first appear to be casualties of the drug-drenched underground jazz scene end up being a part of something much larger with potentially global consequences in this stylish noir.

American Classic 
In this half-hour comedy, Broadway star and notorious narcissist Richard Bean (Kevin Kline) suffers a spectacular public meltdown, and returns to his tiny hometown and the family-run theater where he first became aware of his own brilliance. When he arrives, he is shocked to discover that his father, the former artistic director has slipped into a puppet-filled dementia, and that the once respected theater run by his brother (Jon Tenney) and his wife (now the town’s mayor) has become, by necessity, a low-rent dinner theater serving roast beef and murder mysteries. He decides to save the town, the theater and the world by presenting a great American classic on the dinner theater stage, directed by and starring, of course, himself. 

Condor Season Three
Settled into his role as a CIA case officer abroad, Joe Turner has become a foot soldier in the Agency’s Cold War against China for Africa’s substantial natural resources. But when conflict erupts in his own little corner of the continent, Joe has to prevent the proxy war from turning into World War III, even at the cost of what’s left of his soul.

Tails of a London Dog-Walker
A half-hour comedy-drama based on the memoir “London’s Number One Dog Walking Agency” by Kate MacDougall. Amélie meets Bridget Jones by way of New Girl...with dogs. We follow Kate, dog-walker extraordinaire, through her magical world of perfect (and not so perfect) pooches and disastrous dates, all the while discovering who she really is.

Sessions
The docuseries music fans have long been waiting for—a definitive portrait of the artist from the artists’ perspective, examining their story in their own words and songs. Combining the most effective and evocative aspects of such shows as MTV Unplugged, Austin City Limits and Behind the Music, SESSIONS will provide a front row seat to an amazing concert. This four-part series will also weave behind the scenes footage, interviews and archival material transporting us back and forth in time, experiencing the artists’ careers then and now, capturing their continued relevance and the indelible mark they have made on global culture. 

Hollywood Black  
Based on the book by historian Donald Bogle, this four-part docuseries will be the definitive chronicle and re-examination of a century of the black experience in Hollywood.  From Black Face to Black Power, we’ll tell the epic story of the actors, writers, directors and producers who fought for their place on the screen. 

San Francisco Sounds (Working title)
From the team behind the three-time Emmy nominated documentary Laurel Canyon, comes San Francisco Sounds, a two-part documentary series that captures the spirit of the San Francisco music scene from 1966 to 1976, where a new progressive sound embracing the psychedelic and protest movements emerging from the Bay Area was born. Framed by four of the most seminal music events in history, Monterey Pop, Altamont, Woodstock and The Last Waltz, the series is anticipated to include artists such as The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, Moby Grape, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding and Steve Miller.

NEWS FROM DISCOVERY+
Discovery+ and its related linear sister networks have just been cranking out a staggering number of new programs and documentaries over the past year. And a number of new projects were announced today, spanning every part of the Discovery empire. I'll post a lenk to a rundown of those shows tomorrow, since today's newsletter is already at an epic length.

THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH MARKETING...BUT
Netflix has hired an impressive array of journalists from Allure/Refinery29/etc to run its fan site Tudum. The Business Insider piece (behind paywall) spends a lot of time focusing on the journalists who work there and what it means about the state of journalism:

I don't have a problem with any journalist taking a job at Tudum. Or anywhere else they can find work. More concerning to me is what this means for those of us trying to cover Netflix or other services that are increasingly hoping to use these type of projects to speak directly to subscribers. There is room in the world for both marketing efforts and journalism. But if companies such as Netflix begin to view projects such as Tudum as the optimal outlet for news & features, then it's a loss both for journalists and for readers who are looking for independent, honest takes on TV shows and movies they might be considering.

TWEET OF THE DAY
The Minnesota Department Of Transportation has named a snowplow after Betty White:

ODDS AND SODS
* The CW has ordered three pilots for possible inclusion on the upcoming fall schedule: The Winchesters, a Supernatural prequel following the parents of Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki);  Walker: Independence, a prequel to Padalecki’s current series, and Gotham Knights, a DC Comics show from three Batwoman writers. The network has also ordered six more scripts for its proposed Zorro reboot project.

* Season two of Apple TV+'s drama Tehran will premiere on Friday, May 6th.

* Paramount Network has renewed Yellowstone for a fifth season.

WHAT'S NEW FOR THURSDAY
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:

Double Cross Season Premeire (ALLBLK)
Dragons Rescue Riders: Heroes Of The Sky (Peacock)
Finding Ola Series Premiere (Netflix)
40 Means Nothing (40 No es Nada) (HBO Max)
Kid Cosmic Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
Looney Tunes Cartoons Valentine’s Extwavaganza (HBO Max)
Murderville Series Premiere (Netflix)
My Killer Body With K. Michelle Series Premiere (Lifetime)
New Gold Mountain Series Premiere (Sundance Now)
Puppy Bowl Presents: The Winter Games (Discovery+)
Raised By Wolves Season Two Premiere (HBO Max)
Slapface (Shudder)
Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising (ABC)
Soul of a Nation: X/onerated – The Murder of Malcolm X and 55 Years to Justice (ABC)
The Real Black Panther (NatGeo Wild)
Undercover Underage Linear TV Series Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
United We Drive (Fyi)
War of The Lions (NatGeo Wild)

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

SEE YOU FRIDAY! 

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