Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, March 17th, 2022
I can't imagine why someone who be hesitant to hire Keith Olbermann
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, March 17th, 2022.
AMAZON COMPLETES MGM ACQUISITION
Amazon announced on Thursday it had completed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM. The big prize for Amazon was the MGM IP, most notably the James Bond franchise.
It's worth noting that the benefits to this deal will take awhile to play out. I wrote about this nearly a year ago and here are the highlights:
* Obviously, the crown jewel of the MGM library are the James Bond movies. And at one point, the most recent installment of the franchise almost premiered on streaming because of the pandemic. But thanks to a unique deal MGM has with the Broccoli family, Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson retain an enormous amount of control over the franchise. They currently serve as the final arbiter on everything from the scripts to the casting to the promotional materials. A situation one of my sources described as "not a deal breaker, but worrying." I was told Amazon executives have had at least one meeting with the duo in an effort to wrestle creative control away while allowing them to retain their current split of the profits. It's not clear whether that effort was successful, but I'm told that Amazon executives have already explored the idea of a young James Bond TV series, along with a vague plan to roll out some made-for-Amazon movies set in the Bond cinematic universe.
The older James Bond movies have been available for streaming on just about every major streaming service, but the prize for Amazon would be the exclusive rights to upcoming Bind films, with the expectation that the movies would shift to a shortened release window or an Amazon exclusive some point down the road.
* MGM Holdings owns a lot of well-known intellectual property, although I was told that ownership on several of the more well-known titles was not as clear cut as publicly reported. While it isn't as popular as it was in the 1990s and early-aughts, the Stargate franchise is an obvious starting point for any reboot efforts coming out of MGM.
* The content library of MGM Holdings is massive and includes the post-April 1986 MGM film and TV library, the MGM animation library as well as third-party animated films released by MGM, Orion Pictures (which includes a large number of smaller studio projects), the pre-1994 Castle Rock Entertainment library, as well as most of the Cannon Group and Dimension Pictures library. It also includes the post-1952 United Artists library, which includes nearly 200 pre-1947 Monogram Pictures films as well as the library of ZIV Television programs.
The challenge with all of the jewels of MGM's catalog is that they are already licensed to other streamers, although my understanding is that recent contracts have had shorter terms in anticipation of this deal closing. Then it just comes down to Amazon's desire to swap licensing revenue for exclusive content.
NETFLIX'S ANIMATION AMBITIONS
Vulture's Joe Adalian has great access to executives that don't often talk to the press (and believe me, I know this from experience). So his latest Buffering newsletter is a must-read if you're interested in hearing about the state of adult animation at Netflix. There's an interview with Mike Moon, who heads up Netflix's adult animation efforts and it's a solid overview of what is going on with the streamer.
And because Joe loves classic TV, there's even an update on the long-rumored animated Good Times reboot:
I've been excited for your animated remake of Good Times. It was ordered back in 2020, but since then, you haven’t said much about it. Where is it in the development pipeline?
That is such an iconic, gigantic title. It means so much to so many people all over the world. I think the timing is all about us getting it right. It’s going to be exquisite. It’s got an amazing team behind it, not to mention Norman Lear, Seth MacFarlane, and Steph Curry. The real challenge there, which all the producers were keenly aware of, is how do you justify it being animated without just making it an animated retelling of the same story. That’s always the case when you take something from live-action into animation. And I think the team has absolutely figured that piece out.
Given the lead times for animation, I’m guessing it’ll be at least another year before we see it?
Yeah, I think you’re a year out.
I wanted to highlight these comments about the cost structure of animation, since it hints at an issue that doesn't get enough attention in the industry press:
Historically, broadcast networks liked animation because it was much more cost-effective. The price tag was just smaller. Is that still the case these days?
I think the truth is there is such a huge scale. There is stuff that is produced at a real modest price point. There’s also stuff that is super-premium and super-expensive. I think it’s hard to say exactly. I do think one of the challenges is how long the timelines have been to produce shows. Over the next few years, you’re going to see a lot of innovation in terms of a quicker, more reactive pipeline. Most of these shows are still produced in a pipeline that dates back to the 1970s. So I think you’re going to see a lot of innovation. That doesn’t necessarily make anything cheaper, but I don’t think it’s about that. I think what it is going to be about is just being more reactive with the storytelling, being more iterative with the jokes and the characters and the sequences and the storyboards. I think you’re going to see ideas get to screen a lot quicker in the next few years. It’s top of mind for pretty much everyone in the industry.
Animators are in the midst of a battle with streamers - including Netflix - over pay and other issues. Minimum pay for animators is already low when compared to their live action television counterparts But at least there are mandatory pay increases after the first season. So streamers have been getting around this by ordering one 24-episode "season" and then splitting it into 2-4 "seasons" for release. And then after multiple faux seasons, they cancel the show without civilians realizing it was all smoke and mirrors. This is also the reason why you will frequently see multi-episode animated releases described as "books" or "chapters." In reality, the episodes are technically part of the same season order, at least for the purposes of paying the animators.
If Netflix is really interested in attracting the best animated talent and retaining them, deciding to lead the industry and change these practices will go a long way towards building loyalty.
THE BINGE RELEASE APPROACH YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
While it's difficult to find a story about a major streamer than doesn't include the "is binge releasing new shows a good idea?" discussion, one under-appreciated aspect of the binge model is that even broadcast networks are experimenting with the idea, especially with shows that might struggle to find an audience.
Fox is premiering the new comedy Welcome To Flatch tonight, but if you have Hulu, Fox Now or any other streamer that has same-season streaming rights to Fox shows, you can watch eight episodes of the show beginning today.
This is a bit of a trade-off for Fox. Even figuring in 5+ viewing numbers, this will likely cost the network some viewers (or at least, numbers in the viewing window that advertisers care about the most). But this move is also the most likely way for the show to find an audience, especially given Fox's weakening ratings overall.
TWEET OF THE DAY
A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS ABOUT KEITH OLBERMANN
One of the hot topics in media circles over the past couple of days is news that Keith Olbermann had been negotiating with MSNBC to return to the network's primetime schedule.
The story was broken by the Daily Beast's Source Material media column, which reported that Olbermann's possible return (he had left the network in 2011) was directly nixed by Rachel Maddow, despite his offer to let Maddow's production company produce his proposed program for “a f--kton of money."
Today, Puck's Dylan Byers (subscription required) had excerpts from emails between Olbermann and NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, who Olbermann had been pitching to rehire him for several years. Olbermann apparently sent a detailed rundown of the network's primetime problems, arguing that current anchor Chris Hayes was under-performing expectations and should be replaced.
It's not clear how accurate the "Rachel Maddow personally blocked my return" storyline might be, but if you want an illustration of a primary reason why someone wouldn't want to work with Olbermann, all you have to do is follow the series of stories that have surfaced this week. Olbermann apparently feels as if he was misled by Shell and in typical Olbermann fashion, he'll burn every bridge in an effort to prove that he's in the right.
Keith Olbermann is an extremely talented broadcaster. He's smart, passionate and knows the television business as well as anyone. But he's a bit like TV's answer to that pitcher in the movie Major League, who could throw the ball faster than anyone. But he didn't have control and was as likely to put someone in the hospital as strike them out.
Olbermann has left a trial of ulcers, bad feelings and regret as he's moved from sports anchor to political news anchor to whatever his title might be at the moment. He's unpredictable and impossible to rein in. So given those issues, why would Maddow agree to take on the responsibility of having her production company being responsible for a ticking time bomb? And there are also some lingering bad feelings between the two, apparently in part because Olbermann felt as if he didn't get enough public support from Maddow when he was pushed off of MSNBC.
If MSNBC truly did rule out Olbermann, I think it was a wise move. One of the few the network has made in recent months.
WHAT'S NEW FOR THURSDAY
Here's a quick rundown of all the new stuff premiering today on TV and streaming:
Arctic Circle Season Two Premiere (Topic)
A Gift Of Murder (LMN)
Below Deck Down Under Series Premiere (Peacock)
Curious George Season Fifteen Premiere (Peacock)
DMZ (HBO Max)
Jellystone! (HBO Max)
Masterchef Junior Season Premiere (Peacock)
Millennials (ALLBLK)
Million Dollar Hustle Season Premiere (Lifetime)
Minx Series Premiere (HBO Max)
Psycho Sweet 16 (LMN)
Rescued By Ruby (Netflix)
Soil Series Premiere (Netflix)
The Bunker Game (Shudder)
Welcome To Flatch Series Premiere (Fox)
Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.
SEE YOU FRIDAY!
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