Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, November 2nd, 2023

Why isn't it "Noirvember" at Max? Also, a SAG-AFTRA negotiation update.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, November 2nd, 2023. 

TODAY'S BRIEF SAG-AFTRA & AMPTP NEGOTATION RECAP
SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP were expected to negotiate again today, but apparently the studio side opted to "continue examining" the AI and compensation proposals recently put forward by SAG-AFTRA.

According to SAG-AFTRA, their negotiation committee were available to talk all day, but didn't hear anything directly from the AMPTP side. The assumption seems to be that the studios are preparing what they hope is a new set of proposals that is close enough to what SAG-AFTRA negotiators are looking for that both sides can close a deal by the end of the weekend.

The big question now seems to be the issues surrounding AI. I've heard from the union side that while there is flexibility in the compensation issue (and both sides seems to be closer on that one), the AI is seen as an existential threat. "If we get this wrong, we won't be able to come back next time and unwind it," one source told me tonight. "Everyone understands how importance this is and there is a strong feeling that this is our red line."

So I suspect this might get down to whether or not the studios are willing to step back from some of their proposals on the AI stuff in order to get a deal done. As I have written before, if there isn't a deal in place (or very close) by Monday, this is going to be a grim holiday season.

WHY CAN'T STREAMING BE MORE FUN?
There are a lot of reasons why people subscribe to a streaming service and why they decide to drop it. The cost is a factor and a terrible UI can ruin the streaming experience. But as I have written before, it really gets down to whether the subscriber feels the service is delivering enough relative value for the money. And relative value is a mushy calculation. But in part, it gets down to whether a streaming service can provide enough options to seem worthwhile.

Which is why I am surprised that the bigger streamers haven't experimented more with fun marketing ideas. Ways of surfacing underseen catalog titles in a way to create value for the subscriber and helps boost engagement.

This is November and for fans of film noir, it's also known as "Noirember." I have started posting reviews of old noir movies available for streaming under the "Noirvember" moniker. And aside from the fact that it amuses me and some subset of my readers, it also allows me to highlight some titles younger readers have likely never seen.

Even Tubi is getting into the act, with a special "Noirvember" section.

My question is...why isn’t Max doing this? It has some classic film noir titles already on the service and it would be a chance to also promote newer noir-ish titles such as the recently canceled Perry Mason reboot. It doesn't take a lot of resources to create a special Noirvember section and link to it throughout the month of November on the home page. Warner Brothers was the home of film noir movies and Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TCM has devoted a lot of time to those movies over the years. 

This would have been such a slam dunk and a relatively cheap way to create a bit of buzz and goodwill while also having a bit of fun.

GARTH BROOKS CAN RIVAL TAYLOR SWIFT IN HIS ABILITY TO EXTRACT MONEY FROM HIS FANS
I happen to enjoy Garth Brook's music. I was lucky enough to see him live pretty early in his career and listened to his music a lot in the late 80s and early 90s. He retired for a few years at the top of his popularity in order to spend time with his kids, which I admired greatly.

But since he moved back into the business, his recording output has been notable primarily for the ability of he and his team to cut exclusive deals with major companies in order to extract as much money from fans as possible. 2005's multi-disc box set The Lost Sessions combined a CD of previously unreleased songs bundled together with several of his earlier albums and was only sold at Walmart stores. He created his own streaming service and music label and until the streaming service was folded into Amazon Music in 2017, it was the only place fans could legally stream his tunes. His newest album, Time Traveler, is coming out on November 7th, but will only be available at Bass Pro Shops.

Today it was announced Brooks was going to be performing live on Amazon Prime Video, doing a special "Dive Bar" concert-edition of Amazon Music Live from his new bar in Nashville, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, on Black Friday, November 24th. The concert will air after Black Friday Football—the first-ever NFL game played on Black Friday in history. All of Brook's previous releases will be available for streaming on Amazon Music and the concert will also stream on Twitch. It's not clear if the concert will be available for streaming after it premieres and while I reached out to Amazon on that question, I have yet to receive a response.

As I said, I enjoy the music of Garth Brooks. I just sometimes feel as trying to figure out how to access his newest efforts can get exhausting.

SOME UPDATES FROM HBO
As you probably heard, HBO held an event for the press today and one of the bad things about not being in NY or LA is that I didn't receive an invite for the live event. But the network unveiled a bunch of trailers and announced some premiere dates. Although given that the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, some of the premiere dates might still be aspirational:

* The Last Of Us will go into production in early 2024 with the show set to return sometime in 2025.

* Part two of The Jinx will premiere in 2024.

* Season two of House Of The Dragon will premiere in mid-2024.

* Euphoria will return for a third season sometime in 2025.

* The Game Of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight will begin production in the spring of 2024

ODDS AND SODS
* Amy Schumer's Hulu comedy Life & Beth will return for a second season on February 26th, 2024.

* The comedy special Stavros Halkas: Fat Rascal will premiere December 5th on Netflix.

* The CW announced today that Superman & Lois will end with its ten-episode fourth season in 2024.

* Hulu has announced Futurama has been picked up for two more seasons.

WHAT'S NEW TODAY AND TOMORROW:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND:
* All The Light We Cannot See (Netflix)
* Christmas Cookie Challenge Season Premiere (Food)
* Christmas Holidate (ALLBLK)
* Cigarette Girl Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Higuita: The Path Of The Scorpion (Netflix)
* Kingdom (BET+)
* My Christmas Method (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)
* Onimusha Series Premiere (Netflix)
* SEAL Team Season Premiere (CBS)
* Unicorn Academy Series Premiere (Netflix)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD:
* Blue Eye Samurai Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Daily Dose Of Sunshine Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Ferry: The Series (Netflix) 
* Fingernails (Apple TV+)
* Flipping For Christmas (Hallmark)
* How To Fall In Love By The Holidays (The Roku Channel)
* Invincible Season Two Premiere (Hulu)
* NYAD (Netflix)
* Quiz Lady (Hulu)
* Selling Sunset Season Premiere (Netflix)
* Sly (Netflix)
* The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony (Disney+)
* The Tailor Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
* The Wall Season Premiere (NBC)
* Vacaciones de verano (Netflix)

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.