Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, January 17th, 2024.
SOME DAYS, YOU WANT SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THE RANTING
For better or worse, I find myself ranting quite a bit in this newsletter. The entertainment industrial media complex is capable of providing what feels like a never-ending parade of annoyances and bad decisions. Which may be why I find it pretty easy to always have a few things I can complain about here.
But it's nice to sometimes just sit back and let someone wail on the stupidity of the industry like it was a giant pinata filled with crisp $100 bills.
Tim Goodman has been in the TV industry long enough that he doesn't have a lot of patience for bad takes or pretty much anything that wastes his time. And in his newsletter today, he takes aim at the continued proclamations that we've seen the "end of peak TV." But first, he takes a shot at a Substack with a name I'm assuming rhymes with "The Bankler:"
There’s a very popular and extremely expensive Substack dedicated to the television industry and I got a free six month pass to that not long ago. Well, let’s just say it didn’t take me more than six days to see the faults. The dire predictions. The negativity. But look, people in the television industry — particularly executives — seem incapable of resisting negative coverage and especially negative hot takes about their industry, no matter how poorly written and dead-horse beaten they are.
But Goodman is really wound up by a piece in the NY Times that argues that not only is "Peak TV" likely over, but maybe the era of high-quality television is coming to a close:
“Patriot” never got shit, awards-wise. It got almost no attention outside of me and like a handful of others early on (and fewer, later). But it was and is unmistakably brilliant, every episode, for two seasons (and it’s a crime there wasn’t more). The point isn’t about that, however, it’s that there are a ton of “Patriot” like shows that keep getting made, regardless of era, regardless of awards, regardless of how many fellow “great” shows in the same span bowed out together.
You really should go read the entire thing - and subscribe to his newsletter. And I am not just saying that because it feels as I could have written this paragraph. Albeit not as eloquently:
As one of the few — the very few — critics who, alongside personal reviews actually simultaneously covered the industry as a beat with real sources, I can tell you that industry trend stories gone wrong are the kinds of things I need to learn to ignore if I want to live longer, especially because there are so many of them and so few of them — so very few — are any good or have any merit.
THERE ARE MANY REASONS WHY I DON'T BELIEVE DAVID ZASLAV
Just about every profile I've read about Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav proclaims his love of the entertainment industry and his respect for the long-established companies he now runs.
But I don't believe it. I believe he likes the idea of being a mogul. Of hanging out with stars and industry heavyweights. But that's not the same thing as loving the industry and its history. Because a CEO who had any sense of history wouldn't have allowed this to happen:
I LOVE INTERNATIONAL TV. BUT COVERING IT CAN BE A PAINFUL SLOG
I spend a lot of time writing about television produced outside the U.S. and it can be a challenging task. Unless it's one of the rare high-profile projects, most international TV shows and movies just get dumped onto American streaming services. No screeners for critics, very little info at all about the shows. Netflix is notorious for this behavior, but Disney is increasingly not much better. There is a growing pipeline of original Disney programming (or high-profile licensed locally produced shows) that are released globally across Disney+ and on either Disney+ or Hulu in the U.S. And for the most part, the shows just appear with little fanfare and no advanced coverage. Which is too bad, because a lot of those shows are quite good.
If frentic genre action shows are your sweet spot, you'll probably love the South Korean series A Shop For Killers, which premiered today on Hulu.
Here is the logline, FWIW:
Starring Lee Dongwook and Kim Hyejun, A Shop For Killers opens with a college student Jeong Jian pinned down by a cabal of assassins with the remnants of her childhood home, just hours after saying her final goodbyes to her uncle. Terrified and clueless as to why so many people are determined to kill her, Jian will have no choice but to fight back if she wants to survive.
Brought up by her eccentric uncle Jeong Jinman following the sudden death of her parents, Jian had an otherwise normal childhood occasionally punctuated by specialized survival lessons from her uncle. A quiet and guarded man, Jinman’s past is shrouded in mystery but Jian refuses to believe that he was capable of suicide – no matter what the police report says.
Determined to uncover the truth behind her uncle’s death, Jian returns to her childhood home where she discovers a hidden phone revealing that her uncle had amassed over $14 million from a dark web site called “Murthehelp.” Shocked by this information, Jian tries to find out more, but a barrage of assassins and murder drones begin to open fire on the house.
What was Jinman hiding for all those years and why are so many people trying to kill Jian?
I didn't get screeners ahead of the premiere, but I was watching the two episodes that dropped today and so far I really enjoyed it. If you'd like a taste of what to expect, here's the series trailer.
I don't understand why this is so hard for American streamers. The show isn't mentioned at all anywhere one the main page. Not even in the "Hulu Original" or "Just Released" rows. None of this stuff is rocket science, but it's so important when it comes to content discovery.
One last caveat. A Shop For Killers doesn't have an English-language dub. I'm not sure why Disney opted to not spend the money to add one, but this also happened with the recent series Moving, which garnered enough of an audience that an English-dub premiered about a month after the original. It's worth watching with English subtitles. But not having an English-language severely limits the audience.
ODDS AND SODS
* Season two of the Sylvester Stallone family docuseries The Family Stallone premieres February 21st on Paramount+.
* The producers of Top Chef are developing a game show based on the characters featured at the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant chain.
* Forrest Whitaker has been cast to star in the MGM+ drama series Emperor Of Ocean Park.
* The documentary Spermworld premieres Friday, March 29th on FX. The network describes the doc as "a road movie set inside the new wild west of baby making – online forums where sperm donors connect with hopeful parents."
* The Peacock drama series The Tattooist Of Auschwitz premieres May 2nd. It will star Harvey Keitel and Melanie Lynskey.
* Netflix is not supporting the new Apple Vision Pro and is not planning a visionOS app, nor will it allow its iPad app to run on the headset. Instead, it’ll tell users to watch Netflix from the web browser.
* CBS has ordered the mountain climbing reality competition series The Summit. Based on the Australian series of the same name and hosted by Manu Bennett (Spartacus, The Shannara Chronicles), the series follows 16 strangers who journey through the New Zealand Alps traveling towards a far-off peak. Needless to say, treachery and the fight for a $1 million prize is involved.
TWEET OF THE DAY
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17TH:
* American Nightmares (Netflix)
* A Shop For Killers Series Premiere (Hulu)
* Blue Lights Series Premiere (Britbox)
* Chicago Fire Season Premiere (NBC)
* Chicago Med Season Premiere (NBC)
* Chicago PD Season Premiere (NBC)
* End Of The Line Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Family Law Season Premiere (The CW)
* It Was Always Me (Siempre Fui Yo) (Disney+)
* Trafficked With Mariana Van Zeller Season Premiere (NatGeo)
* Wild Cards Series Premiere (The CW)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2024:
* A Party To Die For (LMN)
* Botched Season Premiere (Netflix)
* Double Cross Season Premiere (ALLBLK)
* Eric Andre Live Near Broadway (Adult Swim)
* From The Ashes (Netflix)
* Kubra (Netflix) - [first video look]
* Law & Order Season Premiere (NBC)
* Law & Order: Organized Crime Season Premiere (NBC)
* Law & Order: SVU Season Premiere (NBC)
* On The Roam With Jason Momoa Series Premiere (Max)
* Rachid Badouri: Les fleurs du tapis (Netflix)
* Sort Of Season Premiere (Max)
SEE YOU THURSDAY!