Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, May 27th, 2021

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, May 27th, 2021. I'm writing this from the Twin Cities suburbs, where AllYourScreens HQ is powered by stale coffee and crab spelled with a "K"

TWO COMEDY CENTRAL UK HOSTS QUIT OVER CENSORSHIP BATTLE
Comedians Sophie Duker and Kemah Bob have announced that they will not return to female-led topical panel show Yesterday, Today & The Day Before, following allegations the network censored comments that were made about the unrest on Israel and Palestine.

Last Thursday, an opening monologue from Duker was cut from the show at the last minute, leading show producer Saima Ferdows to announce on Twitter that she "had made the difficult decision to quit the show on moral grounds."

In an Instagram post, Duker outlined her thoughts about the segment:

“[It was] an attempt to highlight oppressive governments across the globe clamping down on civilians’ right to protest…called out well-meaning liberals and lefties who claim to be anti-racist yet share anti-Semitic material…and took some (fairly tame) swipes at our…prime minister…home secretary and…cis woman JK Rowling. “I hope incidents like these prompt gatekeepers to reflect upon which power structures they are serving and reinforcing and what kind of talent they are failing to retain,” she went on to say.

Bob said in a statement that she was quitting the show in solidarity:

"While I feel production has learned from the mistakes made…and I have been assured the team will do better in future, it is in protest that they will have to do better without me...It is because this issue appears to be so difficult to discuss that we as a news show with resources such as researchers and fact-checkers demystify it…I trust [Sophie’s] ability to shed light on this issue while denouncing anti-Semitism."

Comedy Central has not responded to a request for comment and it's not clear what will happen to the show, which was only set to air for six weekly episodes.

DID AMAZON JUST BUY 'SURVIVOR,' 'SHARK TANK' AND 'RHOBH?' NOT EXACTLY
Since none of us have seen the final details of Amazon's proposed acquisition of MGM, we are all somewhat speculating about what is included in the deal. But I've been attempting to reign in some of the dumbest speculation, in which reporters just list movies and TV shows that have some tangential connection to MGM. Sometimes MGM owns the production company that produces the show, but not the actual format. Sometimes it owns the movie, but not the underlying intellectual property. 

Andy Dehnart's Reality Blurred has a great piece that tries to determine just what reality TV programs might be part of the Amazon/MGM deal and it's not as easy to figure out as you might think:

So, it either has the “rights to or income from” those reality shows. Later in the document, MGM says “We have numerous successful and enduring unscripted television shows that we are currently producing,” and lists Survivor and Shark Tank among them.

Thus, we can conclude that Amazon has acquired the producer or co-producer of shows such as Survivor, Shark Tank, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but it’s hard to know more beyond that.

The entire piece is worth reading, including some speculation on whether Amazon could decide to release outtakes from The Apprentice, which was produced by Mark Burnett. There are allegations that Donald Trump used the "N" word and other problematic language during the production and producer Burnett has long claimed he was legally prohibited from releasing any footage that still exists:

So what would they have discussed if they weren't facing the prospects of a court battle? Sources claim that each of the six contestants had personally heard Donald Trump use "troubling" sexual banter with female contestants and one source claims to have heard the billionaire off-handily describe a female contestant as having a "nice big black ass." Another source claims to have heard Donald Trump refer to season one runner-up Kwame Jackson as "a very professional person, not a Ni**er."

I also spoke with two people who worked on the production of later seasons of The Apprentice and in both cases they reported hearing Donald Trump discuss the breasts of contestants during and before "board meetings" on the show. One former crew member recounted a discussion in which Donald Trump was overheard having a discussion with a show's producer about whether one male contestant had come across as "manly enough" in a previous scene. This crew member also recounted Trump telling a camera person who had trouble getting a shot that "I could be fu**ing X right now."

AMAZON, MGM AND THE REBOOTING OF IP
Much of the conversation around the proposed acquisition of MGM by Amazon centers around MGM's intellectual property and what Amazon might be able to do with some familiar properties. And while Amazon's reach does give the company some advantage over a stand-alone MGM, it's not as if MGM hadn't already been trying to monetize its IP. Recent deals include a mobile game based on the Legally Blonde franchise, a fashion collection inspired by the movie Blue Velvet and Wednesday, a TV series based on The Addams Family franchise which will be airing on...ooops....Netflix.

As I have mentioned before, while much of the press attention has been focused on the IP, it's likely that Amazon will make as much money from licensing, AVOD revenue and direct digital and physical media sales as it will from Creed: The Animated Series. 

ODDS AND SODS

* If I ran Discovery+, I would greenlight a series based on this GQ profile of a group of elite runners from Ethiopia living in NYC who can’t go home:

Staab, 80, who’s never married or had children, lives alone on West 79th Street in a two-bedroom apartment he bought 42 years ago. Books line one wall of the living room; oil paintings and photographs of him with the WSX runners fill the others. Ethiopian tapestries made by one runner’s wife are draped over a row of dining room chairs. Trophies are everywhere.

Staab’s introduction to Africa came during a stint with the Peace Corps in Liberia. The experience solidified a value he’d been raised to honor: Help those less fortunate. Over the years, the Ethiopians on WSX have lived with him for periods of weeks or months at a time; some for more than a year. Even after they’ve moved into their own places, Staab gives them keys so they can come and go as they like. They say he never charges rent, takes a cut from their winnings, or asks for anything in return. The runners offer anyway.

One night before a race in Central Park, Staab says he had 14 runners packed into his three small rooms. He slept on the linoleum floor in the kitchen without any sheets. There weren’t enough to go around, he says, and it was “more important that they have them.” After all, they had a race to run.

* Paramount+ Head of Originals Julia McNamara is leaving the company. While it may be notable that she is exiting just months after the launch of the new streaming service, it's worth mentioning that she has also been at Viacom for 15 years.

TODAY'S PREMIERES 
1) Apocalypse '45 (Discovery+)
After the success of Erik Nelson’s previous archival feature The Cold Blue, the National Archives opened their vaults and allowed access they had previously denied to over 700 reels of this footage, covering the harrowing expanse of the final months of the War in the Pacific. Very little of this material has ever been screened, and none of it has ever been digitally restored, frame by frame, to 4K. In addition, another treasure was uncovered and restored -- astonishing new footage captured by legendary director John Ford. In essence, a "lost film" by Ford, it depicts the ruins of the Pacific Fleet, and the terrible aftermath of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

2) Black Space (Netflix)
A rogue detective with unorthodox means leads an investigation into a massacre committed by unicorn mask-wearing assassins at an Israeli high school.

3) Blue Miracle (Netflix)
The incredible true story of Casa Hogar, the Mexican boys home that entered the world's biggest fishing tournament to save their orphanage.

4) Eden (Netflix)
Created by Justin Leach ("Ghost in the Shell 2"), Yasuhiro Irie ("Fullmetal Alchemist") directs the story of robots raising the last human child.

5) Fanatics: The Deep End (Vice)
Alice investigates what caused people to storm into the U.S. Capital.

6) Friends: The Reunion (HBO Max)
Stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer return to the iconic comedy’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank for a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show.

7) Justice Now: The Way Forward (BET)
Solutions that can bring about true racial and economic justice in a post-George Floyd America.

8) Just What The Doctor Ordered (LMN)
A recently widowed mother and her 18-year-old daughter unwittingly move into a house where an escaped psychiatric prisoner is hiding out.

9) Ragnarok Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
You've got the strength, speed and senses of the Gods. But that doesn't help when you're the new kid in town.

10) Skull: The Mask (Shudder)
In this splatter-filled supernatural slasher, a Pre-Columbian artifact contains the spirit of Anhangá, the executioner of the god Tahawantinsupay. Whoever wears the masked is possessed by Anhangá and compelled to commit sacrifices to resurrect his god. It’s up to a museum assistant and a policewoman to stop the slaughter before the ritual is completed. A throwback treat for fans of ‘80s slashers and gory practical effects.

11) Soy Rada: Serendipity (Netflix)
The delightful Argentine comic Agustín Aristarán (aka Soy Rada) is back, this time putting the spotlight on family and parenting, magic and music.

I'll be back with another one tomorrow. If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.