Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, February 28th, 2024.
RIP RICHARD LEWIS
I am at the age where an unsettling number of people I know are dying. And while I didn't know Richard Lewis all that well, he is one of those people whose absence will make the world a bit less joyful.
I was lucky enough to share a stage with Lewis a few times back when I was doing stand-up comedy. But the first time I met him was relatively early in my career. He happened to be at a club when I was doing a short set and he tracked me down when I got off-stage. "I have to say, I've never seen someone take that approach to comedy before," he told me seriously. He paused, and just as I was ready to respond, he followed up with "That's not a compliment, by the way." He then laughed and patted my shoulder and before he walked away, said. "Keep at it, though. I like interesting choices."
And Lewis did like interesting choices. Whether it was the way he approached stand-up or the acting roles he chose, he managed to successfully walk the line between quirky and annoying. He was always fun to watch and that's not something that can be said of many comedians-turned-actors.
And when it comes to his acting career, while Lewis is better known for his role on Curb Your Enthusiasm, his finest role might be on the ABC comedy Anything But Love, co-starring opposite Jamie Lee Curtis. It is of course not available for streaming (or even on one of the diginets), but here is the pilot episode on YouTube, complete with commercials.
And speaking of TV roles, I also enjoyed the short-lived 1997 sitcom Hiller & Diller, which co-starred Kevin Nealon and was loosely based on the life of writer/producers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel.
'RED QUEEN' IS AN IMPORTANT SHOW FOR PRIME VIDEO GLOBALLY. IN THE U.S.?, NOT SO MUCH
Earlier in the week I mentioned that the Spanish-produced Prime Video original series Red Queen (Reina Roja) was premiering tomorrow. It's based on the first book in Juan Gómez-Jurado’s hit trilogy, which has been the most-read book in Spain for the past three years.
Spanish productions are hot globally right now, so much so that when there was a red carpet premiere for Red Queen in Madrid on Monday, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, and James Farrell, the L.A.-based VP of international originals at Prime Video, flew to Europe to be there in person. But it wasn't just the Madrid premiere. The streamer also held simultaneous premiere events in seven other Spanish cities, blanketing the country with press coverage ahead of the series debut.
And yet, for all of the talk about the importance of global productions and claims that more than 80% of the viewers of recent Prime Video Spanish originals came from outside the country, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the U.S. who has even heard of the show.
Prime Video sent out three of the season's seven episodes to critics on Monday and those episodes have English-language subtitles, but not English-language audio dubs. Which seems like a strange approach given the supposed importance of the series.
I happened to love the three episodes I've seen. But it's one of those shows that would be helped by some thoughtful reviews. Especially given the first few minutes of the series are slow-moving and a bit disjointed. But once it kicks in, it is a non-stop mashup of Hannibal, The Mentalist and Sherlock Holmes. It's quite good and it frustrates me that Prime Video seems to be writing off the American viewing audience.
I know I wrote about this frequently, but I just can't comprehend why it is so difficult for big streamers to provide the bare minimum of PR and marketing to 90% of the shows produced in a non-English language country. I ran into this with Hulu's A School For Killers, which was just dumped on the service without much warning.
As an example, other global TV originals premiering in the next 49 hours to almost no attention in the U.S. include Netflix's The Parades, a heartbreaking story of a mother who searches for her missing son after a devastating calamity, only to realize that she has died and is now confined to a realm of restless spirits. On Friday, it's Aníkúlápó: Rise Of The Spectre, a Nollywood film that is described as "in a race against time to avoid a dismal fate, traveler Saro returns to Ojumo with orders to complete a nearly impossible task." Netflix also is releasing My Name is Loh Kiwan, a movie which tells the story of a North Korean defector who travels alone to Belgium for refuge, where “he encounters a dejected woman who has lost all hope.”
Are any of them any good? I have no idea, since Netflix isn't providing screeners for any of them.
I truly don't understand why this is so difficult.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LATE NIGHT TALK SHOWS
I don't think I'm surprising anyone when I say that late night talk shows just don't have the cultural significance (or ratings) they had even five years. Much less back in the heyday of the Letterman/Leno ratings battles.
But plenty of people still watch the shows and even more people are interested in what's going on in that part of the business.
Which is why I was interested to see the folks at Primetimer - one of the few successful independent entertainment news media companies still around - launched Late Nighter, a stand-alone web site focused on the late night talk show world. The site starts with a couple of experienced journalists at the helm. The editor-at-large is Bill Carter, 26 year veteran of the New York Times & author of The Late Shift and three other books about TV. The editor-in-chief is A.J. Katz, who left TVNewser to help launch the site.
I'll write a stand-alone piece about the site on AllYourScreens at the beginning of next week. But in the meantime, check out Late Nighter and let me know what you think.
ODDS AND SODS
* The Oscar-nominated film Poor Things will be premiering March 7th on Hulu. BTW, if you want to know where you can stream any of his year's Oscar-nominated titles, this regularly-updated list can point you in the right direction.
* Paramount+ has ordered a new NCIS universe series starring Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly, who will reprise their roles as Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo. There aren't a lot of details, but I think it's pretty clear the episodes will also eventually air on CBS.
* Along those lines, season one of the Taylor Sheridan-created Paramount+ series Tulsa King will be airing on CBS ahead of the show's season two premiere on streaming.
* Former MSNBC anchor Medhi Hasan has started a new web site.
* Apple TV+ is releasing a new documentary honoring the real-life heroes of the 100th Bomb Group, which was recently the focus of the series Masters Of The Air. The Bloody Hundredth will premiere on Friday, March 15th, 2024.
* According to this piece in The Atlantic, 4K TV is a lie.
* Yvonne Strahovski will star in Teacup, a horror thriller series at Peacock that counts James Wan among its executive producers. The series will center on a group of people in rural Georgia (replacing the novel's Texas setting) who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive.
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28TH:
* American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders (Netflix)
* Code 8 - Part II (Netflix)
* God Save Texas: La Frontera (HBO)
* God Save Texas: The Price Of Oil (HBO)
* Iwájú Series Premiere (Disney+)
* Iwájú: A Day Ahead (Disney+)
* Survivor Season Premiere (CBS)
* The Impossible Heir Series Premiere (Hulu)
* The Mire Millenium Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
* Vera Season Premiere (Britbox)
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH:
* A Round Of Applause Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Elsbeth Series Premiere (CBS)
* Everything Is Fine (Hulu)
* Kids Are Growing Up: A Story About A Kid Named Laroi (Prime Video)
* Little Stompers Season Premiere (Peacock)
* Lonely Crime Fanatic (LMN)
* Me, Hereafter Series Premiere (Hulu)
* Perimeter Series Premiere (BET+)
* Red Queen [Reina Roja] Series Premiere (Prime Video)
* Royal Crackers Season Premiere (Adult Swim)
* The First 48 Presents Critical Minutes Season Premiere (A&E)
* The Parades (Netflix)
* The Tourist Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
SEE YOU ON THURSDAY!