Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, February 21st, 2024

The downside of weekly TV episode releases

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, February 21st, 2024.

THE DOWNSIDE OF WEEKLY TV EPISODE RELEASES
You'll hear a lot of people in the American television industry wax poetic about the beauties of a weekly episode release over a binge release. Weekly releases allow viewers to slowly absorb the episode and spend the week discussing it. Weekly releases allow for recaps and social media chatter and the sense that a number of people are all watching something at the same time.

And that may indeed be the case if we're talking about a high-profile show such as True Detective: Night Country. But for most shows, viewing data suggests that most people lose track of the weekly releases and end up catching up on the show in mini-binges or even weeks after the season has ended.

I thought it might be helpful to create a regularly updated page that listed every streaming series I could find that was releasing new episodes on a weekly basis. In theory, there would be a long list of dates, with show and episode info arranged chronologically, allowing viewers to plan ahead and be reminded of new episodes they might otherwise forget.

And I gave up the effort for reasons that illustrate why weekly streaming episode releases can be terrible for content discovery once you get past the top titles.

My parameters were that I wanted to list every streaming show that wasn't also premiering on linear TV. So nothing from HBO or Starz, for instance. But I also wanted to include every show I could find. A lot of South Korean shows have a weekly release schedule here in the U.S. because they air weekly first in South Korea. 

And I found it was impossible to create a list that dived any deeper than the top, most talked-out titles. Streamers often barely mention their global premieres, much less provide episode info. And especially with the big three or four streamers, shows just randomly premiere and there is no info provided. It's a weekly release, but you don't even know how many episodes, much less have specific episodic loglines.

It all turned into a nightmare and I quickly realized that I could spend my entire work day trying in vain to assemble this list.

I think having this type of weekly episodic rundown would be super helpful. But right now, it's just not a priority for streamers. Which means that many shows on a weekly release will disappear without a ripple in pop culture zeitgeist.

SHANE GILLIS AND 'SNL'
Seth Simons is probably the best writer out there covering the comedy world and his Humorism newsletter is a must-read. 

He has a piece in today's Los Angeles Times that looks at the decision by Lorne Michaels to have comedian Shane Gillis host Saturday Night Live, given that Gillis was hired and quickly fired by the show in 2019 for making racist comments on several podcasts:

In one “A Fair One” segment, Gillis uses the n-word, ostensibly quoting his father’s nickname for a childhood prank: “[n-word]-knocking.”

In another, taking a cue from a racist caller, he describes comedian Ian Fidance, a frequent “A Fair One” guest, as “a k—-faced bitch.”

In a third, he performs a crude impression of someone with Down syndrome before telling his co-host and guest that their “hook noses” make them look Jewish. Later, he expresses skepticism of the idea that some homophobes are in the closet. “I hate Black people; I’m not Black. I hate Jews; not a f— Jew bone in my body.”

In a fourth, he complains about the “CNN Jew s—” playing on the studio’s television, asking that it be changed to Fox News.

In a fifth, he praises his co-host’s “Black voices” before performing his own racist caricature. Then he effuses over the founder of the Proud Boys. “I’ve watched Gavin McInnes videos and been like, ‘Hell yeah, dude,’” he says. “I’ve gotten drunk and watched f—ing Gavin McInnes, like, highlight reels of him debating people, which he f— crushes people. He crushes.”

Saturday Night Live is an institution at NBC and Lorne Michaels could shoot someone in the hallways of 30 Rock and would still have a job.

It's troubling to see Gillis hosting a show that began its life as the voice of the underrepresented. His appearance on the show legitimizes his behavior and sends the message that you can say or do whatever you want. As long as you do it on a platform that doesn't have a high profile. And if enough people like what you say on those platforms, you get the chance to host a broadcast network variety show.

Or, as Simons writes in his latest newsletter:

I hope to illustrate two things with these pieces. One, that as Gillis has become more and more successful, he has continued making straightforwardly racist, antisemitic, and transphobic comments on his podcast. And two, that his bigotry is not just some aesthetic quirk, something you can write off as unserious so long as he keeps it out of his standup. (This is a frustrating argument to have to make in 2024, but so be it.) It actually has real-world consequences, for instance the Pizzagate-believing Holocaust deniers he's helped give a considerable audience. You cannot just ignore these things. They are genuinely dangerous.

I also hope these pieces make something else clear, which is basically what I've been writing on this newsletter for a long time now: we are going backwards. A level of unabashed bigotry that disqualified someone from a mainstream platform five years ago is now totally acceptable, even ignorable. The white backlash is working. I don't think it's arguable that comedy is playing a huge role in it. I find it all very disturbing.

As do I.

ODDS AND SODS
* Mergers and consolidations have ruined just about everything. The latest casualty is the market for collectible baseball jerseys. And in a related note, you shouldn't really pay attention to most of the supposed "best of" product review lists you find at the top of Google search results. Even when they come from familiar names such as Better Homes & Gardens.

And if you’re looking for TV industry connection, I’ll simply say that some of the Penske Media sites are diving head into various SEO-focused shopping “features” and lists.

* Some Star Trek fans want to erect a statue of Commander William Riker in his fictional hometown of Valdez, Alaska.

* As you might remember, I highly recommended the South Korean series A Shop For Killers, which is available in the U.S. on Hulu. And now you can buy the soundtrack album.

* Fox announced today that Jay Pharoah will host the new game show The Quiz With Balls, which sounds as if was named by a 12-year-old.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST:
* Can I Tell You A Secret? Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Constellation Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
* Criminal Record Season One Finale (Apple TV+)
* Dolly Parton's Pet Gala (CBS)
* Messi’s World Cup: The Rise Of A Legend (Apple TV+)
* Pawn Stars Season Premiere (History)
* Pawn Stars Do America Season Premiere (History)
* Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season Premiere (Disney+)
* The Family Stallone Season Two Premiere (Paramount+)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND:
* Avatar: The Last Airbender Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Death In The Dorms (Hulu)
* Jellystone (Max)
* Rory Scovel: Religion, Sex And A Few Things In Between (Max)
* Summer House Season Premiere (Bravo)
* The Ex Obsession (LMN)

SEE YOU ON THURSDAY!