Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, August 15th, 2023

If you are going to make a mistake, at least own it.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, August 15th, 2023. 

A shorter newsletter today. I am fighting whatever non-COVID bug the rest of my family had over the weekend. I'm off to sleep and hopefully there will be a full-sized edition tomorrow.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE A MISTAKE, AT LEAST OWN IT
I've been a journalist a long time and no matter how careful you might be, mistakes take place. And when they do, the temptation is to try and pretend the mistake didn't happen. The hope is that by doing that, you save your credibility. But the truth is that you just make things worse. Because readers (at least those approaching your reporting in good faith) will accept a screwup a lot easier than they will an attempt to fool them.

Deadline has struggled with a series of missteps during their coverage of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Mistakes are made in the reporting of stories or things are said which in retrospect are unwise. The stories are changed and the new version doesn't reflect the changes. And editor's notes about changes made to a story are pretty much the minimum acceptable level of behavior at most new organizations.

Earlier today, Deadline posted a story which provided a quick and somewhat vague update on talks between the WGA and AMPTP negotiating teams. The story had a line which instantly jumped out at anyone reading it who is a member of the WGA:

As I've been writing about frequently in this newsletter, while I think the "don't believe it until you hear it from the guild" is a great organizing tool, it doesn't accurately reflect the reality of the situation. People from the WGA talk, but they just mostly do it off-the-record or on background.

Bur regardless, it seemed unlikely that any mass meeting of strike captains took place and as it turned out, it didn't.

Now, I have some sympathy for the reporters in this situation. The WGA negotiating committee has made a point of not commenting on negotiations publicly, so a call to one of them asking them to verify such a meeting took place probably wouldn't have received a response. 

Mistakes happen and for whatever reason one happened on this story. The story was corrected and this is what the corrected version looks like:

The new version dropped the words "strike captains" and that's good. It's clear that the initial reporting was wrong and I've said several times, mistakes happen.

But the Deadline story doesn't mention the change. And that seems to be standard procedure at the outlet.

Mistakes happen. But editors and journalists should have the stones to acknowledge it publicly.

NEW COMPETIVE SERIES STARRING THE COUNTRY'S MOST ANNOYING REALITY STARS TO AIR ON E!/USA/SYFY/BRAVO
Okay, full disclosure. The new series House Of Villains doesn't bill itself that way. But if you've spent any time watching reality television, this collection of ten "iconic and infamous reality television villains" certainly fits the description. And it'll be hosted by Joel McHale, whose TV career has taken an unexpected turn in recent years.

Participants in season one of the show include:

·  Anfisa Arkhipchenko  

·  Johnny Bananas  

·  Shake Chatterjee 

·  Jonny Fairplay 

·  Bobby Lytes 

·  Corinne Olympios 

·  OMAROSA 

·  Tiffany “New York” Pollard 

·  Jax Taylor 

·  Tanisha Thomas 

FWIW, House Of Villains premieres across four NBCUniversal-owned cable networks on Thursday, October 12th.

TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* Warrior Nun executive Producer Dean English took to social media to announce Netflix had picked up three films based on the comic book character Warrior Nun Areala by Ben Dunn. The series had been canceled by the streamer after two seasons, but fans of the show had led a wide-ranging campaign to somehow save the series.

WHAT'S NEW TODAY AND TOMORROW:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 15TH, 2023:
Boss Moves With Rasheeda Frost Season Two Premiere (Philo)
Eye Of The Storm (Yi qi) (Netflix) 
Good Bones Season Premiere (HGTV)
Jared Freid: 37 And Single (Netflix)
Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback (Paramount+)
Scent Of Time (Max)
The Love Experiment Series Premiere (MTV)
What's Wrong With That House? Series Premiere (HGTV)

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16TH:
At Home With The Furys Series Premiere (Netflix)
Battle Of The Decades Series Premiere (Food)
Depp Vs. Heard (Netflix)
Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars Season Finale (Fox)
Guy's Grocery Games: All-Star Invitational (Food)
Miguel Wants To Fight (Hulu)
Temptation Island: Secrets Revealed (Peacock)
The Chosen One (El Eledgido) Series Premiere (Netflix)

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.