Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Friday, October 28th, 2022
It feels like a Friday today....
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, October 28th, 2022.
As is often the case on Fridays, this is a short newsletter. Because it's Friday, which means that everyone in Hollywood was halfway to wherever they're going for the weekend by 3:00 p.m. So in that spirit, have a great weekend and I'll be back with my typical novella of a newsletter on Monday.
STRANGELY, THE WORST IDEA FOR A TV SHOW THIS FALL DOESN'T WORK
CBS announced today that its reality series The Real Love Boat is headed to Paramount+. The series is averaging 2.1 million viewers, putting it behind all other broadcast unscripted programming except Fox’s Lego Masters (just under 2.1 million) and CBS’ Secret Celebrity Renovation (just under 2 million).
Why didn't the show grab an audience. Consider this description of the show and think about whether it's something you'd watch without some sort of financial compensation or hostage-taking of family members being involved in the decision:
Based on the ’70s and ’80s scripted dramedy “The Love Boat,” “The Real Love Boat” puts singles on a luxury cruise through the Mediterranean to look for love amongst destination dates, challenges and surprise new singles. As in the original series, the captain and cruise director play pivotal roles in matchmaking. After almost a month at sea, only one couple will win and take home a cash prize plus another trip via Princess Cruises.
I suppose CBS decided to order the series because CBS Studios owns the underlying IP and it's even more unlikely that anyone would watch a scripted reboot of The Love Boat.
I have nothing against competition shows, dating shows...whatever. But rather than trying to pump life back into a dated idea, I don't understand why CBS didn't at least develop a new format, ideally one that was built on the network's existing branding. For example, do a series called The Next Great CBS Action Star and have wannabe procedural actors competing for a 3-4 episode recurring role on a CBS primetime procedural. Some of the tasks could take place on the sets of existing CBS shows and episodes could feature dropins from a few familiar CBS faces. The worst case scenario is the show doesn't work and the network has to figure out a way to hide the winner in a show for a few episodes. But the upside is that the network creates an actual star and if they are wise enough to have contestants sign a deal that would tie them up for X number of years after they win.....
ADVENTURES IN STREAMING SERVICE UX TWEAKS
The Netflix app on my Roku Stick seems to be a popular target for all sorts of little user interface tweaks. I've seen features randomly come and go over the past few weeks and this week the theme of the experiments seems to be "are you sure you don't want to go back and watch that?"
ODDS AND SODS
* Apple is developing a scripted limited series based on the company’s podcast "Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy.” John Hoffman, the co-creator of Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, is writing and executive producing the project.
* The diginet Decades is running marathons of the TV shows The Planet Of The Apes and Hammer House of Horror this weekend.
* Stephen C. Grossman, who served in various producing capacities on all eight seasons of the acclaimed 1982-90 CBS sitcom Newhart, died Thursday of coronavirus complications, his wife, Joan, announced. He was 76.
"The Maverick" Logan Paul is coming for "The Head of the Table" Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel!
This heated rivalry explodes live on Saturday, November 5, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia!
The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship is on the line as Logan Paul attempts to dethrone Roman Reigns on this international stage.
“The Beast” Brock Lesnar will take on "The All Mighty" Bobby Lashley as they reignite their blockbuster feud.
The O.C. battles The Judgment Day in a Six-Man Tag-Team Match.
Watch WWE Crown Jewel exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and on the WWE Network everywhere else.
WHAT'S NEW FOR FRIDAY:
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:
A Cozy Christmas Inn (Hallmark)
All Quiet On The Western Front (Netflix)
Becoming Abi (Netflix)
Big Mouth Season Six Premiere (Netflix)
Drink Masters Series Premiere (Netflix)
Garcia! (HBO Max)
Ghosts Of Flight 401 (Travel)
I Am A Stalker (Netflix)
If Only (Netflix)
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues (Apple TV+)
Milk Street's Cooking School Series Premiere (Roku Channel)
Milk Street's My Family Recipe Series Premiere (Roku Channel)
Monster High Series Premiere (Nickelodeon)
My Encounter With Evil (Netflix)
My Nightmare Office Affair (LMN)
Run, Sweetheart, Run (Prime Video)
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (Netflix)
The Devil's Hour Series Premiere (Prime Video)
Urban Legend Series Premiere (Travel)
Wendell & Wild (Netflix)
Wild Is The Wind (Netflix)
Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.
SEE YOU MONDAY!
If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.