Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, April 30th, 2024

Some thoughts from the EP and writer of the FX on Hulu series "The Veil"

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, April 30th, 2024:

SOME THOUGHTS FROM THE EP AND WRITER OF 'THE VEIL'
The Veil premiered today on FX on Hulu and it stars Elizabeth Moss as an MI6 agent who plays a cat-and-mouse game with a suspected terrorist Adilah (Yumna Marwan), over the course of a trip from Turkey to Paris and then eventually to London.

Steven Knight is the executive producer and writer for the series and I had the opportunity to speak with him about the show. Here's an excerpt of the conversation, which I'll post in full next week once enough episodes have dropped that I won't be spoiling anything:

Q: I was re-watching the five episodes the network had sent over the weekend because I knew I was going to talk to you. And it struck me how much of the season is really defined by that first conversation in the refugee tent. And having watched the five episodes once already, the moment that resonated with me was Imogen's question to Adilah: "Do you deserve to be hated?" And it really seems as if that's the question everyone in the show deals with.

Steven Knight: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's very perceptive. Because what I wanted to do was to go on a journey with these two characters, literally, geographically, but also, obviously, in terms of what they found out about each other. But they asked each other questions. And what I wanted to establish is that, in the end, we sort of find out that neither of them really know what's true about themselves.

Which may be true of all of us. But they are these Russian dolls in that there's something inside something inside of something. And they can never quite find what's right in the middle.

Q: Both Imogen and Adilah have a similar way of talking. Which is, you tell a bunch of lies. But you add a couple of things that are actually true in order to make everything sound somewhat believable. And outsiders can never figure out which is which. 

Steven Knight: I think the best lie is 99% true. So it gets down to gathering. I think people learn how to do this instinctively. And I think maybe those people are drawn to espionage and spying. But it's this idea that you can create the truth about yourself. 

And many people do that who are very successful. You just create your character, you create the truth that you know. Something that is pretty much a reflection of what people what you to be, or expect you to be. And I think that it's easier to lie when you're saying something to someone they want to hear.

And so what I wanted to explore is exactly what you hit the nail on the head in your observation. Which is this idea that as I speak to you as someone else, I am asking you a question that you don't know an answer to:  "Do you deserve to be hated?" And the only way you're going to find out is by talking to me, and the only way I'm going to find out is by talking to you. And that's what the conversation is about.

INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY PREMIERES EIGHT NEW SEASONS IN MAY AND JUNE
For those of you who are fans of true crime TV, be warned that many new seasons of some some familiar ID shows are coming your way. Here's a rundown of the premiere dates:

Tuesday, May 7th: Crimes Gone Viral
Wednesday, May 8th: In Pursuit With John Walsh
Sunday, June 2nd: Signs Of A Psychopath
Sunday, June 16th: American Monster
Tuesday, June 25th: High Speed Chase and Late Night Lockup
Wednesday, June 26th: Fear Thy Neighbor

ADVENTURES IN BAD STREAMING PLATFORM UX
As I have mentioned previously, I am a subscriber to Hulu Live TV. And as much as I enjoy parts of it, the user experience of the platform is just insanely odd. If there is a term for "the opposite of intuitive," then that would perfectly describe the daily Hulu Live experience.

For instance, the first horizontal content row on the home page below the large promo window is called "Live Now." And given that most people would expect streamers to make things easier for its subscribers, having the live feeds show somehow reflect what the subscriber actually might be interested in watching would seem like the bare minimum for any streamers. Instead, the first choice generally shows the last live feed I watched, but everything else in the row always seems to be a combination of random networks and a few Hulu marketing priorities.

So right now, my choices include News Nation, a Toronto Maple Leafs game, QVC and two Vevo music feeds devoted to Bon Jovi. Even more frustrating, if you scroll down to the eleventh row on the Hulu Live TV home page, there is a "Live TV Favorites" row. Which only lists CNN, a network I almost never watch live.

AND SPEAKING OF AWKWARD STREAMING SPORTS APPS
One last unrelated streaming UX complaint. My son and I are HUGE Chicago Cubs fans and he is not just obsessed with the mothership team. He's also interested in all of the minor-league Cubs affiliate teams. And MLB.TV offers live feeds of all the minor league teams. In fact, MLB.TV has a great TV app. You select your favorite MLB team, and it links to that team's games as well as all of the minor league affiliates on the home page.

But I wasn't initially convinced he was going to use it and the annual rate isn't cheap. So I opted for a month of the service and after a couple of weeks of usage, decided we should upgrade to an annual subscription. Which you cannot do with MLB.TV. Instead, you have to cancel your account completely and create a new account for the annual plan. Which just doesn't seem like the best approach.

For that matter, I'm surprised that there is no connection between subscriber's MLB account (which you use to purchase tickets, etc) and their MLB.TV account. In an era where customer viewing habits and behavior are prized data, it seems strange to purposely walk away from aggregated subscriber information.

ODDS AND SODS
* The "let's take the star(s) from one of our successful shows and send them to Italy" has happened so frequently on the various Discovery networks that it is almost a trope. So I suppose I'm not surprised to learn the Magnolia Network is premiering Maine Cabin Masters: Building Italy on June 7th. In the series, "Chase Morrill, his wife Sarah, and their four teenagers bring the team to a remote village in Italy to try and renovate their dream home Cabin Masters style." Insert very deep sigh.

* Season seven of My Hero Academia premieres Saturday, May 4th on Crunchyroll.

* Season two of My Adventures With Superman will premiere Saturday, May 25th on Adult Swim.

* The animated adventure trilogy WondLa will premiere Friday, June 28th on Apple TV+.

* Multiple news sources are reporting Rob Marciano, the ABC News & Good Morning America meteorologist, has been fired from the network. According to reports, some staffers had made complaints about Marciano’s behavior over the years and he was at least temporarily barred from main GMA set in NYC.

* Prime Video has ordered a second season of Cross, a drama starring Aldis Hodge and based on James Patterson’s best-selling novel series about a detective and forensic psychologist who delves into the minds of killers in order to catch them. The announcement is notable because not only has the show not premiered, there has yet to be an official premiere date. Which makes me wonder if this is a situation in which Amazon opted to keep the show in production and crank out two back-to-back seasons in order to save money and downtime. 

* Rural, older Americans could get hurt as the affordable internet program runs out of cash.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

TUESDAY, APRIL 30TH:
* Catfish: The TV Show Season Premiere (MTV)
* Fiasco Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Hostage Rescue Series Premiere (The CW)
* My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman (Netflix)
* Police 24/7 Series Premiere (The CW)
* Restoring Galveston Season Premiere (Magnolia)
* The Veil Series Premiere (FX) - [first look]

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1ST:
* Acapulco Season Three Premiere (Apple TV+)
* Behind The Music (Paramount+)
* Dance Moms: Epic Showdowns Series Premiere (Lifetime)
* Dance Moms: The Reunion (Lifetime)
* Deaw Special: Super Soft Power (Netflix)
* Dogleg (Mubi)
* Down The Rabbit Hole (Fiesta en la madriguera) (Netflix)
* Frankly Speaking Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Jeopardy! Masters Season Premiere (ABC)
* Shardlake Series Premiere (Hulu)
* Supermarket Stakeout Season Premiere (Food)

SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!