Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, March 1st, 2022
A grab bag of TV news today...
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, March 1st, 2022.
DISNEY+ SET TO MARVEL LIVE ACTION TITLES PRODUCED FOR NETFLIX
Disney+ announced on Tuesday that starting on March 16th, Disney+ will add Marvel live-action series that were previously streaming on Netflix, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, The Punisher and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D to its content lineup in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Those shows expired from Netflix on March 1st.
While the addition of these shows to Disney+ had been widely rumored, the big surprise is that the streaming service also announced it was introducing new parental controls that allow families to block younger children from being able to view these incoming TV-MA-rated properties.
These moves offer up a number of questions, none of which have been addressed yet by Disney+. Does this mean some of the cast and/or shows that were produced for the Netflix Marvel properties will be picked up for additional seasons? Does the addition of parental controls open up the possibility that Disney+ might begin adding more adult-oriented programming?
PEACOCK’S GLOBAL VIEWERS
It's worth remembering that all "most watched" or "most popular" on streaming lists have their own data challenges. Some lists are more accurate than others and in some cases, while the list is accurate, it might only sample a specific subset of viewers. Still, they can be quite useful and I find the Whip Watch Reports enlightening in part because they release data from all of the major streaming services. Nielsen collects data for all of the services, but will only make it publicly available if the service agrees. Which is why their Top Ten lists don't include HBO Max.
Here are the Whip Watch charts for the U.S. covering the week of February 21st-27th and the most interesting thing is what isn't listed in the Top Ten in the U.S. It's a show that is hitting the charts in some European countries:
Peacock content is rolling out across Europe as part of a new deal that bundles Peacock originals into a new Sky Showtime streaming service. And for whatever reason, the Peacock original One Of Us Is Lying is hitting top ten viewing charts as it becomes available locally. This week, the show ranks #3 in Italy, 5 in the U.K., #3 in France and #8 in Spain, It also ranks #5 in Brazil, which is a bit confusing to me. But all of this is a good reminder that originals roll out globally in different schedules and if you just follow the U.S. charts (or even the aggregated global ones), you can miss some interesting viewing trends.
G/O MEDIA FACES MORE UNION WOES
The unionized workers at Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Kotaku, Lifehacker, and The Root have announced the Gizmodo Media Group Union (GMG Union) has gone out on strike against parent company G/O Media after the current contract expired at midnight. Here is a link to the Union proposals:
Since January 31, the Gizmodo Media Group Union (GMG Union) and G/O’s Media’s outside counsel have met five times. Every session, the company’s outside counsel sidestepped and delayed, refusing to provide written counterproposals to the union’s good-faith proposals. How can you bargain a contract when the people across the table won’t even clearly state what they’re advocating for?
We have not made this choice to strike lightly. Please read about the company proposals we’re fighting.
As you might expect, part of the discussions involve pay and health care proposals. But it's also worth noting that several sticking points center on whether journalists who have been working from home should be required to return full-time to the office. And whether journalists who have been working remotely from scattered locations can be forced to move to the NYC area in order to be close to the G/O Media East Coast headquarters. The latter concern is not unfounded, given that G/O Media has recently gave employees working in the Chicago offices of The Onion a "move-to-LA-or-look-for-a-new-job" ultimatum.
HBO PULLS LARRY DAVID DOCUMENTARY ONE DAY BEFORE PREMIERE
HBO announced earlier today it is pulling the upcoming Larry David documentary at David's request:
The Larry David Story — in which David has a wide-ranging conversation with longtime collaborator Larry Charles — was scheduled to premiere Tuesday night on HBO. On Monday evening, however, HBO Documentaries tweeted that the documentary was being postponed, writing that “Larry has decided he wants to do it in front of an audience.”
Whether the finished film — which Charles also directed — will ever see the light of day is unclear at the moment. There’s also no word on when David and Charles might redo the interview in front of a crowd.
TWEET OF THE DAY
ODDS AND SODS
* After some stalled negotiations, John DiMaggio is returning as the voice of Bender in the Hulu revival of Futurama.
* Paramount+ is dropping it subscription rate for new subscribers, offering the base level for $1 per month for three months. The premium level costs $2 per month for the same period.
* AVOD Crackle has added a few more obscure TV titles to its service today: the 1982 Angie Dickinson series Cassie & Company, full series runs of Tour Of Duty, What's Happening, What's Happening Now! and Riptide.
* DirecTV is dropping the Russian government-backed RT channel, effective "immediately."
* Sony is effectively merging its two anime streaming services, announcing that Crunchyroll subscribers will have access to library and simulcast content previously available exclusively on Funimation starting on March 1st.
WHAT'S NEW FOR TUESDAY
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:
Cherif Series Premiere (MHz Choice)
Fin Ar Bed Series Premiere (MHz Choice)
Love Is Colorblind (Netflix)
Moby Doc (Hulu)
Murder In Provence Series Premiere (Britbox)
State Of The Union Address (Various)
The Guardians Of Justice Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Larry David Story (HBO)
The Savior For Sale (Hulu)
Worst Roommate Ever (Netflix)
Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.
SEE YOU WEDNESDAY!
If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.