Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, February 10th, 2022

How Dave Chappelle helped kill a affordable housing project.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, February 10th, 2022. 

INSIDE THE 'RINGS OF POWER'
Vanity Fair has a deep dive look at the upcoming Amazon Lord Of The Rings series, including exclusive photos and video, as well as interviews with showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne:

Their series will juggle 22 stars and multiple story lines, from deep within the dwarf mines of the Misty Mountains to the high politics of the elven kingdom of Lindon and the humans’ powerful, Atlantis-like island, Númenor. All this will center, eventually, around the incident that gives the trilogy its name. “The forging of the rings,” says McKay. "Rings for the elves, rings for dwarves, rings for men, and then the one ring Sauron used to deceive them all. It’s the story of the creation of all those powers, where they came from, and what they did to each of those races.” The driving question behind the production, he adds, was this: “Can we come up with the novel Tolkien never wrote and do it as the mega-event series that could only happen now?"

As the extensive article lays out, the subject of what Tolkien material can be used in the Amazon series is more complex than you might imagine:

Over the years Christopher Tolkien left lucrative bids for other Middle-earth material on the table. But in 2017, as he was preparing to retire, the Tolkiens held a surprising auction. They were selling the rights to the Appendices that outlined what the author had referred to as the Second Age of Middle-earth, along with any references to that time period in The Lord of the Rings itself. If you’re not up-to-date on your ages, the second one is (seemingly) a time of peace for Middle-earth after an era of horror and conflict. The wicked god Morgoth has been defeated, and his apprentice, Sauron, has vanished. As the series begins, Galadriel is hunting down the last remnants of their collaborators, who claimed the life of her brother. The Third Age—and the adventures of Frodo, Sam, and the fellowship—awaits some thousands of years in the future.

The starting price for the Tolkien estate’s auction was a gobsmacking $200 million, which would have been a nonstarter if not for the industry’s obsession with finding the next Game of Thrones. And money wasn’t the only daunting factor. A handful of ageless characters, like the elves Galadriel and Elrond, could appear in the new series as their younger selves, but the studio making it would have to forgo fan-favorite hobbits and wizards, who weren’t major players in the Second Age. The Tolkien estate also wanted input into the direction of the series.

I'm not a Tolkien superfan, but I am really looking forward to seeing Rings Of Power. Yes, it's extremely expensive and high-profile. But it also sounds like it will be quite an interesting take on the material. 

THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT DAVE CHAPPELLE HELPED TO KILL
Comedian Dave Chappelle lives in a quaint little suburb outside Dayton, Ohio. And like a lot of old, rich guys, he doesn't seem to much like change. Especially when the change happens too close to where he lives:

In a newly released stand-up clip, Dave Chappelle has once again upended the conventions of bourgeois morality. In this case the standing up occurred at a Monday-night town meeting in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where the comedian did something some people found a little unseemly: He threatened to pull the plug on his investments in the city, which include a planned restaurant and comedy club, if officials approved a zoning change to permit townhouses and affordable housing.

Offended? You’re not alone. This is simply not how affordable housing gets rejected in polite society. You’re supposed to declare your town a mountain lion habitat, or defend the sacred views from the highway. You say you weren’t consulted, or that the housing is too ugly, too affordable, or not affordable enough. Just complaining about the parking shortage is plenty good enough for most of us.

Then again, that’s why we love Dave Chappelle: Because he’s not afraid to break down the euphemisms, the conventions, the tired cliches, and say what he’s really thinking. Like Monday’s Yellow Springs city meeting, when he reiterated that he was serious about withdrawing the millions of dollars he had invested in the town. "I cannot believe you would make me audition for you," he told city leaders. “You look like clowns. And then: "I am not bluffing. I will take it all off the table."

So apparently Dave Chapelle is now in his "hey kid, get off my lawn" part of his life.

HELP PRESERVE KUKLA, FRAN AND OLLIE
In 1947, Burr Tillstrom created Kukla, Fran and Ollie - a beloved television puppet show that was watched by more adults than children. It counted Orson Welles, John Steinbeck, Tallulah Bankhead, and Marlon Brando among its many adult fans, and James Thurber once wrote that Burr was "helping to save the sanity of the nation and to improve, if not even to invent, the quality of television."

The Burr Tillstrom Copyright Trust is working to digitize the final episodes of the show and has launched a GoFundMe page to raise the $7,000 required to finish the job. If you're a fan of classic television, this might be a great place to spend a few dollars.

NEWS FROM THE TCAs
Thursday's TCA presentations were from the various AMC Networks. 

Here are some of the highlights of the day:

* The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul will roll out in two parts with the first seven episodes beginning April 18th.

* Here is a first look at the Better Call Saul animated digital prequel series Slippin' Jimmy.

* Sundance Now has acquired two dramas from ITV: The Suspect and Showtrial.

* BBC America will co-produce Mood, the first drama series from actor, writer, and singer-songwriter Nicôle Lecky.

* AMC Networks have renewed six shows that are airing on the company's various streaming networks: AMC+’s Kin, Acorn TV’s My Life Is Murder, Bloodlands and London Kills, and Shudder’s Slasher and Creepshow.

ODDS AND SODS
* The action drama series The Tourist, starring Jamie Dornan, premieres March 3rd on HBO Max.

* The Nickelodeon Slime Cup golf special will feature Justin Thomas, Lexi Thompson as well as NFL and other PGA Tour stars

* Moviepass plans to relaunch this summer.

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

All The Moons (Shudder)
Into The Wind  (aka Pod Wiatr) (Netflix) - [review]Irresponsible Season Three Premiere (Topic)
Kimi (HBO Max)
Real Househusbands Of Hollywood Series Premiere (BET+)
Until Life Do Us Part Series Premiere (Netflix)

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.