Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, March 31st, 2022

Today is apparently "let's announce some premieres" day...

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, March 31st, 2022. 

LARGEST SPANISH-LANGUAGE AVOD VIX LAUNCHES TODAY
TelevisaUnivision is launching its new streaming service Vix today, and it's a really interesting product. 

ViX is a two-tier service in one single app, comprised of the free AVOD product launched today and an SVOD option, ViX+, coming in the second half of 2022. It has a mix of entertainment, news and sports content, is launching in the U.S., Mexico and most of Spanish-speaking Latin America.

The service offers over 100 varied virtual live linear (VLL) channels with a wide variety of content, including news, sports, movies, novelas, series and kids’ channels, and many more:

Novelas: From classics like “Marimar” and “Rebelde” to mega-hits such as “Teresa” and “Amores Verdaderos,” with superstars such as Thalía, Angelique Boyer, Sebastián Rulli, Gabriel Soto and many more, ViX has it all.
Movies: Top-performing movies from leading Hollywood studios, such as Lionsgate, MGM and Disney, indie movies and Latin American films, all available in Spanish. 
Children’s Programming: A collection of children’s channels, including “Moonbug Kids” featuring megahits “Cocomelon” and “Blippi,” as well as a dedicated channel “ViX Junior” featuring pre-school hits such as “Strawberry Shortcake,” “Sunny Bunnies” and “Franklin” and a “Pinkfong Baby Shark” channel for parents to play and sing-along with their kids. 

Vix also includes original programs, Mexico's first 24/7 news streaming channel, N+ Media, and  collection of live news channels from Latin America and Europe, including “ATV+” from Peru, “TN23” from Guatemala and “Euro News,” the number one international news channel in Europe.

On the sports side, there is a ton of soccer and other live sports:

• Nearly 1,000 free live games, including access to over 500 matches from top South American leagues, including Brasileirão Championship, Argentina’s Liga Profesional de Fútbol, Colombian Primera División and Perú Liga 1, for a limited time only. 

• Exclusive coverage of more than 75 games from Mexican Liga de Expansión, and  Liga Femenil MX.

• Premium access to select UEFA Champions League, Liga MX, and U.S. Women's National Soccer team matches.

And the sports offerings are even more impressive in Mexico, where Vix will be "the digital destination of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022."

Because it is a Spanish-language service, the launch of Vix isn't receiving 1/10th of the attention the CNN+ launch is receiving in the English-language press. But this looks to be a massive service, especially given its AVOD and SVOD mix.

EVENTUALLY EVERYONE WANTS TO GET INTO THE SCRIPTED DRAMA GAME
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the WWE is expanding its scripted drama plans, with two new series in production:

Contra Las Cuerdas, WWE’s Spanish-language comedy, will debut on Netflix Inc. in Mexico, while Pinned, a Succession-like mogul-family drama, will be available through Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, owner of NBC and the streaming platform Peacock. It hasn’t been decided yet where in the NBCUniversal empire Pinned will appear.

And of course, the WWE is also jumping into the semi-real biography/documentary business with a movie about Vince McMahon's most infamous brush with the law:

Beyond its two scripted shows, WWE is making other moves on the content front. WWE is partnering with Blumhouse, a production company famous for its horror movies including “Paranormal Activity” and “The Purge,” to develop “The United States Vs. Vince McMahon,” a TV series about the government’s indictment of Mr. McMahon in 1994 for allegedly supplying anabolic steroids to WWE wrestlers. Mr. McMahon, who declined a plea deal, stood trial and was acquitted by the jury.

The show will be similar in style to the likes of FX Network’s The People v. OJ Simpson, a dramatized miniseries about real events, according to Blumhouse Television President Chris McCumber.

I am sure that a miniseries about Vince McMahon which is co-produced by McMahon's WWE will be even-handed and not at all unrealistically kind to McMahon.

NBC ANNOUNCES SOME SUMMER PREMIERE DATES
NBC announced some of its summer premiere dates today, with season premiere of America's Got Talent kicking off things on Tuesday, May 31st. That night is also the series premiere of Dancing With Myself. That show will see a group of everyday people compete each week in a series of high-energy dance challenges designed and demonstrated by the show’s celebrity creators Shakira, Nick Jonas, Liza Koshy and host Camille Kostek. The new season of America Ninja Warrior premieres on Monday, June 6th and Who Do You Think You Are? returns to NBC after ten years. That genealogy series premieres on Sunday, June 10th.

LIFETIME GREENLIGHTS THREE NEW 'TORN FROM THE HEADLINE' MOVIES
Lifetime has greenlit three additional new original movies for their summer Ripped from the Headlines slate headlined by Catherine Bell, Candice King and Robin Givens, joining star Melissa Joan Hart in the previously announced movie, Dirty Little Secret. The slate will begin on June 11th with Hart, starring as a mother who will go to extreme lengths to hide her hoarding in Dirty Little Secret.  Continuing the slate on June 18th is Candice King in Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story, the story of upstanding nurse who brutally murders her husband and tries to dispose of his remains in three suitcases. Then on June 25th, Robin Givens stars in He's Not Worth Dying For as Cher, the mother of a teen involved in a love triangle that results in tragedy. Jailbreak Lovers, executive produced by and starring Catherine Bell, rounds out the slate and marks Bell’s return to Lifetime after starring in the top-rated series Army Wives. Premiering July 2nd, the film tells the story of a devoted wife and mother willing to risk everything to help her younger lover escape from prison.

TLC RENEWS FIVE SHOWS
TLC has renewed five of its veteran shows for another season, which helps to fill out the network's summer schedule. Season 23 of Little People, Big World and season four of Welcome To Plathville premiere on Tuesday, May 17th. Season four of The Family Chantal and season four of Seeking Sister Wife both premiere on Monday, June 6th. And season three of I Love A Mama's Boy premieres on Sunday, June 19th.

TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* Disney+ has shifted the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi back two days from Wednesday, May 25th to Friday, May 27th. That will pit the show against the season four premiere of Netflix's Stranger Things. And to up the ante a bit, Disney+ will be premiering two episodes of the show that night.

* A new season of the Food Network's BBQ Brawl is premiering on Monday, May 9th. This time around, Bobby Flay will be joined by Anne Burrell and Jet Tila as judges for the competition.

* Hulu's new original movie The Valet is premiering on Friday, May 20th. In the film, world famous movie star, Olivia (Samara Weaving) faces a PR disaster when a paparazzi snaps a photo of her with her married lover, Vincent (Max Greenfield). The hard-working valet Antonio (Eugenio Derbez) accidentally appears in the same photo and is enlisted to pose as Olivia’s new boyfriend as a cover up.

* The CW Network has acquired the one-hour Canadian drama series Family Law.  The series follows lawyer and recovering alcoholic Abigail Bianchi (Jewel Staite) struggling to put her career and family back together after hitting rock bottom. As a condition of her probation, Abby is forced to work at her estranged father Harry’s (Victor Garber) firm, Svensson and Associates, and practice in family law for the first time while forging new relationships with the half-brother Daniel (Zach Smadu, Cardinal) and half-sister Lucy (Genelle Williams, The Expanse) whom she’s never met.

* AMC+ is premiering its new series The Ipcress Files on Thursday, May 19th. It's based on the Len Deighton novel and stars Joe Cole (Gangs of London, Peaky Blinders) as iconic British spy Harry Palmer.

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

Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart (HBO Max)
Ex On The Beach Season Premiere (MTV)
Inventions That Changed History (Discovery+)
Julia Series Premiere (HBO Max)
Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition (WE tv)
Moonshot (HBO Max)
Night's End (Shudder)
Rat In The Kitchen Series Premiere (TBS)
Super Pupz Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Fairly Odd Parents: Fairly Odder (Paramount+)
How We Roll Series Premiere (CBS)
Young Justice: Phantoms (Part 2) (HBO Max)

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.