Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, March 15th, 2022

I know, I know...I'm late

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, March 15th, 2022. 

PROGRAMMING NOTE
The newsletters this week have been later than usual due to some scheduling overloads. Hopefully, things will return to normal tomorrow.

NETFLIX ORDERS FIVE DR. SEUSS SERIES
Netflix will produce five new Dr. Seuss preschool series and specials. They're adapting:
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
The Sneetches
Wacky Wednesday
Horton Hears a Who!
Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose

Dustin Ferrer will serve as showrunner across all five preschool projects, with additional showrunners set to join the franchise in the coming weeks as Netflix sets up its own interconnected world of characters. Tuesday’s deal marks the latest collaboration between Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Netflix after 2019’s Green Eggs and Ham, the star-studded animated comedy from Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros. Television. That 13-episode, hand-drawn Warner Bros. TV Animation series, which returns April 8 for its second season, was picked up in 2015 and took four years to reach the screen. The author’s widow, Audrey Geisel, gave her blessing to the series that was previously developed as a feature. Warners is not involved in the new collaboration.

TOP TEN DISCOVERY+ SHOWS
Whip Media has pulled data to show a list of the ten most-popular Discovery+ shows over the last six months, according to the people who use their app:

Here's the international list:

1. 90 Day: The Single Life

2. Ghost Hunters

3. Ghost Adventures

4. Paranormal Caught on Camera

5. The Haunted Museum

6. Love Off the Grid

7. 90 Day Bares All

8. Drag Race Italy

9. Love In Paradise: The Caribbean

10. American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda 

There aren't a lot of changes for the U.S. list. The big difference is Drag Race Italy, which isn't available in the United States:

1. 90 Day: The Single Life
2. Ghost Hunters
3. Ghost Adventures
4. Paranormal Caught on Camera
5. The Haunted Museum
6. Love Off the Grid
7. 90 Day Bares All
8. Love In Paradise: The Caribbean
9. American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda 
10. Undercover Underage 

The interesting datapoint to me is that you don't see any programs from the Food Network or HGTV on the list, despite their popularity with linear audiences. Most of the shows on this list are Discovery+ originals or premiered on Discovery+ first before having their linear premiere. It also fits into what I've heard from various streamers over the years. That while shows such as House Hunters are very sticky on linear television, for whatever reason that popularity didn't extend to streaming.

NETFLIX AND 'THE POWER OF THE DOG'
Screen Daily has a really informative interview with See Saw Films cofounders Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, who produced Jane Campion's The Power Of The Dog, which seems headed to winning some Oscars. The film received a limited theatrical release in November 2021, prior to its December release on Netflix. And according to the piece, it was viewed in 45 million households. Which is a different metric than the ones usually shared publicly by Netflix:

“The Netflix model has given us the opportunity to have a looser definition of success,” says Sherman. “You can get subsumed by the narrative of the box office very easily and lose sight of the fact a film is just bloody brilliant. The box office has its whims — the time it’s released, maybe you’re in a world of Covid, maybe it comes up against another movie and it gets caught in the wake.

“Forty-five million households, that’s stupendous,” Sherman continues, “plus the awards nominations, the critical response, the social media reactions, the effect on Netflix of retaining subscribers and bringing in new subscribers — all these things go into a more heterodox melting pot.”

The interview offers some unique insight into the way the film was financed, as well as the production process with Netflix:

“Day-to-day, Netflix had a very light hand, in a lovely way, in terms of their production presence on the project,” adds Sherman. “They have a great team of experienced people who we were in touch with all the time, and were aware of what was happening. But they trusted us to create the space for Jane to make her best work.”

See-Saw produced the project alongside Seghatchian — the lead creative producer — plus Frappier and Campion. Sherman and Canning helped develop the script with Seghatchian and Frappier, assisted in casting and collated additional financing. “It’s an independent film, but with Netflix as our major financiers,” Sherman is keen to note. Positioning the project as an Australia-New Zealand co-production helped to secure additional money from tax credits. Further funding came from a completion bond, investment from the New Zealand Film Commission and bank financing.

See Saw has a number of other streaming projects in the pipeline, including Slow Horses, a spy-oriented limited series for Apple TV+. That series stars Gary Oldham, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jonathan Pryce and premieres on April 1st. While reviews are still under embargo, I've watched all six episodes of the season and it is a spectacular old school British spy thriller. I'll be interested to see what the public thinks.

TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* A young Siberian man has built a hit YouTube channel dubbing Tucker Carlson into Russian, and amassing 24 million views.

* If Netflix releases in the movie and no one talks about it, was the movie really released at all?

* Apple TV+ has ordered the medical drama Midnight Family, which marks its first all-Spanish-language original series.

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

Adam By Eve: A Life In Animation (Netflix)
Catherine Cohen: The Twist? She's Gorgeous (Netflix)
Fixer To Fabulous: Welcome Inn Series Premiere (HGTV)
Gabia: Operation Cage (MHz Choice)
Holy Heist (Discovery+)
Marilyn's Eyes (Netflix)
Mr. Mayor (NBC)
Phoenix Rising (HBO)
7 Little Johnstons Season Premiere (TLC)
Street Outlaws: America's List - After Hours (Discovery)
Team Zenko Go Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Bay (Britbox)
The Craftsman Series Premiere (Magnolia)
Young Rock (NBC)

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.