Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Sunday, August 10th, 2025:
'HEY, IT'S THAT TEN-YEAR-OLD PETER, PAUL AND MARY SPECIAL ON PBS, IT MUST BE PLEDGE WEEK
If you've been reading this newsletter for awhile, you likely know that I love a lot of PBS programming. I'm a member of my local PBS station and I encourage you to become a member as well. And part of driving new and recurring memberships involves pledge weeks.
But for the life of me, I can't figure out why PBS pledge weeks continue to be filled with the same specials year after year. I receive both PBS Twin Cities as well as PBS Wisconsin as part of my Hulu Live TV package and this week's schedule is filled with an endless procession of the same programs I've seen popping up on PBS for years. Those "My Music Presents" clip shows of 60s and 70s acts, half of whom are now dead. A LOT of Rick Steves. Music specials featuring tribute Beatles and Fleetwood Mac bands. Some surreally terrible America's Home Cooking specials, which are like something from the early days of television.
And then there are the specials that seem to exist primarily to convince people to pledge in order to get the information promised by the program. There is The Brain-Gut Connection With Dr. Emeran Mayer, which talks in general about how the two are connected, but doesn't offer even a sliver of information about what steps a viewer might take to solve the problem. And then there is the yoga special, which turns out to be an hour of people talking about yoga instead of actually doing it.
You're also likely to see Bee Gees: In Our Own Time, a 2011 special that is as lightweight as an old VH1: Behind The Music special. And the 2014 special 50 Years Of Peter, Paul & Mary. Plus LOTS of Rick Steves.
Maybe this programming generates a lot of pledges and if they do, well, I have some follow-up questions to ask. But I can't help thinking that there has to be some programming available for licensing - or buried in the CPB vaults somewhere - that would speak to an audience who isn't interested in a Lawrence Welk retrospective special (and yes, one of my local PBS stations is running one of those too).
I want PBS to succeed. I want to raise as much money as possible. But for me, pledge weeks tend to be the time when I watch PBS the least. Which I don't think is the idea.
THE BEST ENTERTAINMENT BUNDLE YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF
No one thinks of DirecTV as a good deal. Whether it is their overpriced legacy satellite platform or their virtual MVPD, DirecTV has never had the leverage to cut a better deal with the big media companies.
That is, until Fox, The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery decided to launch Venu Sports. It was a standalone streaming sports service that would not only include the three media companies sports assets. It would also include many of their linear networks. They were essentially breaking up the cable bundle for their own purposes, something all three companies have refused to do for anyone else. The service shut down before it was launched after both Fubo TV and DirecTV filed lawsuits asking for the same ability to pick and choose networks.
Allowing that to happen would shatter the cable bundle entirely, so the companies decided to shutter Venu Sports rather than risk the chaos that would come from ala carte cable packages.
The Fubo lawsuit was settled when Disney agreed to acquire a controlling interest in Fubo, along with paying a $220 million payment to FuboTV and a $145 million loan scheduled for next year. The two companies recently announced that Fubo TV will be combined in some way with Hulu Live TV, although all of this has to be approved by federal regulators.
As for DirecTV, as part of its settlement, it obtained the rights to sell genre-specific packages of cable networks. It's not quite ala-carte cable, but it's much more segmented than any other streamer can offer right now.
The best of the DirecTV genre packs is the entertainment pack, which offers more than 40 channels for $34.95:
A&E, Adult Swim, AHC, Animal Planet, Aspire, BET+, Bounce, Bravo, Cleo TV, CMT, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Cooking Channel, Cozi TV, Destination America, Discovery, Discovery Life, E!, EarthX, FETV, Food Network, Fox Business, Fox News, Freeeform, FX, FXM, FXX, FYI, Game Show Network, Get TV, Heroes & Icons, HGTV, History Channel, HLN, Investigation Discovery, Ion, Lifetime, Magnolia Network, MeTV, MSNBC, MTV, MTV2, NatGeo, NatGeo Wild, Ovation, OWN, Oxygen, Paramount Network, Pop TV, Science, Syfy, TLC, Travel Network, TV Land, UpTV, VH1 and Vice.
Now, the lineup isn't perfect. There is nothing from AMC Networks, Hallmark or some other smaller networks., But it is a solid solution for entertainment television fans, especially when you consider that the pack includes Disney+, Hulu Bundle Basic and HBO Max with ads for free.
Of course, it wouldn't be DirecTV if it didn't have a lot of small print with the deal. From what I can tell, that $34.99 price is the current price for the package and isn't simply discounted for a couple of months. But the DirecTV website sure makes it difficult to know for sure, so buyer beware.
And BTW, this isn't some sort of affiliate play like you'll find on some of the entertainment trade websites. I just think this is an interesting offer.
ODDS AND SODS
* While The Roku Channel's SVOD Howdy generally sucks, one reason to subscribe is that it now has the entire series run of China Beach. I haven't had a chance to check out other music, but the early episodes do include a version of "Reflections" as the theme song, but the Supremes version is swapped out for a slowed-down almost jazzy version of the tune.
* Netflix has given an early Season 3 renewal to One Piece, which will begin production in Cape Town, South Africa later this year. Ian Stokes is set to join Joe Tracz as co-showrunner for Season 3. Here is the season two first look trailer as well as a photo gallery of images from the season.
* Fran Drescher is not running for re-election as SAG President. The two candidates for the position are Sean Astin and Chuck Slavin, a member of the local board in New England.
* If you wonder why being on X/Twitter sucks these days, meet the 24-year-old Ottawa software engineer who runs a MAGA bot.
WHAT'S NEW TOMORROW
MONDAY, AUGUST 11TH:
* A Sorority Mom's Guide To Rush! Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Irish Blood Series Premiere (Acorn TV)
* Marvel’s Iron Man And His Awesome Friends (Disney Jr.)
* The Madam Blanc Mysteries Season Four Finale (Acorn TV)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH, 2025:
* A Body In The Basement (Investigation Discovery)
* Alien: Earth Series Premiere (FX)
* Chef Grudge Match Series Premiere (Food Network)
* Final Draft Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Jim Jefferies: Two Limb Policy (Netflix)
* The Ultimate Fighter Season Thirty-Three Finale (ESPN2)
* TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan (Fox)
* Truck Dynasty Series Premiere (Discovery)
SEE YOU ON MONDAY NIGHT!