Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, April 26th, 2022

Is Netflix rolls out its own little mini-cinematic universe?

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, April 26th, 2022. 

THE CONTRACTUAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF UNWINDING DISNEY'S REEDY CREEK DISTRICT
There has a massive amount of attention paid to the efforts of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to eliminate the special district that Disney uses to govern Disney World and the surrounding area. But as this piece in Bloomberg Tax describes, it is likely impossible for the state of Florida to actually dissolve the Reedy Creek District. And if it does, it will leave county and state governments on the hook for at least $1 billion in obligations:

In case it was not obvious, dissolving Reedy Creek “limited” and “altered” its ability to improve and maintain its project and collect its various charges and taxes, and thus Florida would be violating its pledge to bondholders by dissolving Reedy Creek. However, even without that explicit language, the bill dissolving Reedy Creek would have problems under contracts clauses of the Florida and U.S. constitutions.

Stating that the county assumes the debt is simple enough—actually figuring out what that means is a different story. Reedy Creek spans both Orange and Osceola counties, so how will the debt be divided? Would it be by taxable value of property or by the properties themselves? And how would that apply to the utility revenue bonds when there is no easy way to divide which county the utilities rest in?

These difficult questions point to the basic contractual issue. By dissolving Reedy Creek, the legislature essentially rewrote the promises made in the district’s bond offerings. Instead of bonds backed by a special district with the power to levy up to 30 mills in taxes, the property tax bonds will be backed jointly by two governments that can only generate a maximum of 10 mills in taxes. Instead of a unified utility system with special powers to charge various fees, supported by special taxing powers, utility revenue bonds will be jointly managed by two counties subject to additional taxing and spending restrictions.

Which is all more proof that this "war" on Disney is more about performative politics than any actual issues with Disney content. And as I mentioned yesterday, if Ron DeSantis was really offended by transgender teens, he would target something such as the upcoming Discovery+ series Generation Drag:

A three-year veteran of Dragutante since his mother conceptualized the event, Jameson relishes in performing as “Ophelia Peaches,” but this year brings a desire to lyrically express his hurt emotions of not being accepted by certain family members by performing an original song. Noah, who performs as "Poptart,” is a trans female teen exploring her first romantic relationship. Although her parents have accepted her transition, there are still tough conversations to be had about her true self. Vinny, who is a perfectionist and was born to perform, struggles with his “Vinessa Shimmer” choreography and stresses he won’t be able to execute a flawless cartwheel in his new platforms on stage. Having difficulty connecting with peers in his hometown, Bailey is filled with anticipation to finally meet other teens with the same passion. His drag persona, “Nemo,” gives him the confidence to open up and make new friends. Although Nabela is looking forward to bringing her “DunkaShay Monroe” to a larger audience, she still longs for the acceptance of her maternal grandmother who she fears may never accept her. The five teens have worked for months curating their head-to-toe looks for their alter ego performances, but it’s the friendships they make along the way that fulfill their sense of self.

Watch the Generation Drag trailer here.

IS THIS NETFLIX'S VERSION OF THE CLOVERFIELD CINEMATIC UNIVERSE?
One of the real sleep international shows on Netflix in recent years was the Belgian seriesInto The Night, which ran for two seasons. The premise was really fun, with an unexpected solar flare killing everyone in the world who is exposed to direct sunlight. The bulk of season one followed a group of people on a plane frantically to trying to stay ahead of dawn. The series was created by Jason George, who also worked on Netflix Turkish originalsThe GiftandThe Protector. 

He's back on Netflix with another series produced in Turkey, entitled Yakamoz S-245, which begins as a series about the owner of a high-tech sub who is convinced by his ex to join her expedition to explore a deep underwater trench. But about halfway through episode one, it quickly turns into a "the world may be ending" thriller and it turns out the show is set in the same universe as Into The Night. It's the "killer sunlight" story told from a different part of the world and I'm fascinated by that move.

Assuming Yakamoz S-245 is successful, it would be fun to see George expand this universe into new territories. Imagine the story told from the perspective of an Indian audience or a series that is set in sub-Saharan Africa. It's a way for Netflix to flex their global production capabilities to use in a way that few of their competitors can match.

DID DISNEY STRIP A LGBTQ STORYLINE OUT OF A SERIES IN LATIN AMERICA?
Dejaview News focuses hard on all of the Disney businesses, especially on the streaming side. So I found this recent post of interest, since it claims the company has tried to strip a gay storyline out of a telenovela that streams on the Disney+ streaming service in Latin America:

The Latin American Disney XD show’s original plot in question began in Season 3. From episodes 36-47, a gay character pursues his crush on a basketball player. The English audio track has been altered to seem like he is seeking advice from this boy on how to attract girls and great effort has been made to have them appear “straight.”

The incorrect English audio track has been present ever since Disney+ added the series to Latin America last year.

I've reached out to Disney to see if I can get some clarification on this. I'll let you know if I hear back from them.

WARNER BROS DISCOVERY CUTS SCRIPTED SERIES DEVELOPMENT AT TNT, TBS
While it's not a surprise, it's noteworthy that just hours after Warner Bros. Discovery executives spent much of their earnings call trashing the former management of Warner Media that the ax is already starting to fall. Variety is exclusively reporting scripted programming development is being cut at the cable networks TNT and TBS:

The WarnerMedia-run cable channels will no longer develop new scripted content, three sources close to the matter tell Variety. It is unclear what will happen to TBS and TNT’s current slate of scripted programming.

Discovery did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday.

After ramping up their scripted programming efforts in the past decade, both TNT and TBS have significantly pared down their scripted offerings in the last few years.

At TBS, the network’s only remaining scripted shows are the comedies “The Last OG,” “Miracle Workers,” “Chad,” and “American Dad.” Of those, “The Last OG” aired its fourth season in October 2021 with no word on a fifth. “Miracle Workers” aired its third season in July 2021 with a fourth season ordered in November. “Chad” aired its first season in the summer of 2021 with a second season to debut in 2022. “American Dad,” which moved to TBS from Fox in 2014, was renewed for two more seasons in December 2021.

TNT has only two scripted shows left on its roster. Those are “Animal Kingdom,” which will end after its sixth season airing in June, and “Snowpiercer.” The latter show was renewed for a fourth season ahead of its third season premiere.

From a purely business standpoint, this probably makes a lot of sense. And as the article notes, both networks have significantly cur back on scripted programming in the past few years. That's also been the case with some NBCUniversal networks, such as USA and Syfy, which are both nearly out of the scripted television business. 

THE WORLD ISN'T JUST TELEVISION
If you recognize the name Tim Goodman, you've probably been following the TV industry for a long while. Goodman was the TV critic for the SF Chronicle, then the Hollywood Reporter before leaving to pursue a development deal with FX. He has a newsletter and while it's sometimes about television, it's also often about other things. He recently wrote about getting older and I hate him a bit because this paragraph perfectly encapsulates the way I feel in a way I don't think I could written:

My very short take on birthdays is that I hate them because I hate getting older, but I love them because they mean I’m still alive and I very much like being alive. I do not take to aging as many other people do — but I think this has served me well in life. I never felt my age. I felt older when younger and younger as I got older. I never fit neatly in my demo. I can intellectualize the benefits of aging, of life, but I also am terrible about any part of it that requires accepting it, which seems not very grown up of me, not very rational for a rational person, but has dovetailed nicely with a determination to not be what other people might expect me to be (or do). I am acutely aware that this “fuck it, I’m not like that” self-perception can also be self-delusional and that one day I’ll be that person doing something so out of line with my age that it will no longer seem rebellious or idiosyncratic and true to myself and will be, well, tragic.

Here's a link to his newsletter and you really should subscribe.

VARIETY HAS ITS BIGGEST TRAFFIC MONTH IN HISTORY
So if you're wondering which entertainment press site was the most-read in March, the answer is Variety. They've posted a non-bylined story touting their success over the competition:

Variety.com, the digital arm of the legendary entertainment trade Variety, scored record-breaking traffic in March 2022. Some 36.9 million unique users visited the site in March, officially making it the biggest month in the brand’s history, according to Comscore.

Additionally, March was the seventh consecutive month that Variety placed No. 1 for readership among entertainment trades, beating Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. And Variety‘s traffic for 2022 has topped other major Hollywood consumer news publications, putting the site ahead of Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone, as measured by unique visitors.

A couple of interesting pieces of context. It's important to remember that Penske Media (PMC) owns a staggering number of entertainment trade and consumer publications, including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, TV Line, Rolling Stone, Indiewire, Gold Derby and Billboard, as well as SXSW. So touting Variety's "win" over some of its sister publications is kinda funny.

Also, AllYourScreens.com did about 2.4 million unique visitors in March, according to our internal analytic logs. So that's also pretty good for a site that is essentially a one-person news organization?

TWEET OF THE DAY

ODDS AND SODS
* Single Drunk Female has been renewed for a second season by Freeform.

* IFC Films announced on Tuesday that, beginning on May 6, their movies would air on AMC+ immediately following their theatrical runs.

* Raising Dion cast member Sammi Haney announced on social media Tuesday that the streamer has pulled the plug on the superhero drama after two seasons.

* CBS has renewed the cop drama Blue Bloods for a 13th season, after series star Tom Selleck agreed to a new deal with the network.

* Hallmark Movies & Mysteries announced that production has begun on the original movie The Road Ahead, starring Holly Robinson Peete.

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

Body Cam Season Premiere (A&E)
David Spade: Nothing Personal (Netflix)
Help! I'm In A Secret Relationship Series Premiere (MTV)
Preaching Evil: A Wife On The Run With Warren Jeffs (Peacock)
We Remember: Songs Of Survivors (PBS)

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.