Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, November 15th, 2024:
THE HUMILIATION IS ALMOST INEVITABLE
Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announced Monday morning they had traveled last Friday to Mar-A-Lago to hang with President-elect Donald Trump.
And as I wrote earlier today on AllYourScreens, I was not thrilled about the move:
I have heard my share of backdoor self-important puffing up of egos, but listening to Mika comparing her role as cable news morning show co-host to that of her father, who has an advisor to LBJ and the National Security Advisor of the United States under Jimmy Carter, certainly requires an impressive amount of self-worth and/or self-delusion.
But let's unpack this a bit more. So Joe and Mika managed to get through the entire Biden presidency without speaking to Donald Trump. They were clearly capable of pontificating about the state of the union without speaking to the former president. And yet within ten days of him returning to the presidency, the duo are making the trek to Mar-A-Lago.
And hearing Scarborough, who just weeks ago was referring to Trump as a Nazi, talking about they "told him eye-to-eye" they disagreed with him, as if telling Trump he's wrong is on the same moral level as standing up in a crowd of Romans to say "No, *I* am Spartacus," is just embarrassing.
And speaking of embarrassing, this morning's revelation sparked this post from Donald Trump, making the humiliation complete:
FOX ANNOUNCES ITS WINTER/SPRING PREMIERE SCHEDULE
Here are Fox’s winter premiere dates (all times ET/PT except as noted):
Thursday, January 2nd:
8-9 pm: Hell’s Kitchen (Season 23B premiere)
9-9: 30 pm: Animal Control (Season 3 premiere)
9: 30-10 pm: Going Dutch (Series premiere)
Tuesday, January 7th:
8-9 pm: Kitchen Nightmares: Road to Super Bowl LIX (Season 2 premiere)
9-10 pm: Doc (Series premiere)
Wednesday, January 8th:
8-10 pm: Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test (Season 3 premiere)
Monday, January 20th:
8-9 pm: 9-1-1: Lone Star (Season 5B premiere; final season)
9-10 pm: Rescue: HI-Surf (Season 1B premiere)
Monday, February 3rd:
8-9 pm: 9-1-1: Lone Star (Series finale)
Sunday, February 9th:
6: 30 pm ET/3: 30 pm PT: Super Bowl LIX
|Immediately following: The Floor (Season 3 premiere)]
Wednesday, February 12th:
8-9 pm: The Masked Singer (Season 13 premiere)
9-10 pm: The Floor (Time period premiere)
Thursday, February 13th:
8-9 pm: Next Level Chef (Season 4 premiere)
WGA AUTHORIZES STRIKE AGAINST PBS
The Writers Guild of America members have authorized a strike against PBS the current contract expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on November 21st. In a statement, the union says PBS refused to meet for negotiations for months leading up to the strike vote:
Additionally, writers at 20 animated PBS series — including “Alma’s Way,” “Carl the Collector,” “Cyberchase,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Molly of Denali,” “Pinkalicious & Peterrific” and “Work It Out Wombats!” — signed a pledge to not cross a picket line should a strike be called by the union. If a deal isn’t reached and a strike is called, all WGA members would be prohibited from performing struck work for PBS and PBS member stations. Pickets would take place at THIRTEEN in New York, WGBH in Boston and at PBS SoCal in Los Angeles.
My suspicion is that one of the big sticking points is the last item listed in this paragraph:
There are currently 150 freelance writers who work at the three top PBS affiliates. Guild members are calling for animation writers to have full union protections, a deal that would be first of its kind. Additionally, members are asking for writer-producers to have fair compensation, made-for-new-media programs be given WGA coverage and for there to be “reasonable residual payments for reuse on streaming services.”
To be clear, animated writers receive one of the rawest deals in television and they deserve better compensation. But I suspect PBS isn't going to be eager to extend streaming residual payments, given the importance that business is for PBS Kids.
ODDS AND SODS
* I recently wrote about CNN and suggested the cable news network should lean into a non-partisan, populist bent. This reporting about problems at CVS is precisely the type of story that I would be focusing on.
* Here is a rundown of Monday's global TV news.
* Beyonce is going to perform during the halftime of one Netflix's Christmas Day NFL games.
* Apple TV+ has given a green light to Cape Fear, a TV series executive produced by two Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Javier Bardem will star in the series and also executive produce.
* WWE’s Monday Night Raw will premiere on Netflix at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET on January 6th live from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
* Rose Matafeo, the creator, writer, director and star of the Max comedy series Starstruck, has a new comedy special coming to Max., Rose Matafeo: On and On and On, premires on Thursday, December 19th.
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH, 2024:
Jingle Bell Love (The Roku Channel) - [first look video]
Leonardo Di Vinci (PBS)
Love & Hip Hop Miami Season Premiere (VH1)
The Honorable Shyne (Hulu)
The Making Of Gladiator II (CBS)
Wonderoos (Netflix)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH, 2024:
Adam Ray's Dr. Phil Comedy Special (Netflix)
Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises On Wicked (NBC)
Interior Chinatown Series Premiere (Hulu) - [first look video] [photo gallery]
Jeff Dunham's Scrooged-Up Holiday Special (Prime Video)
Making Manson (Peacock)
Night Court Season Two Premiere (NBC)
Night Is Not Eternal (Max) - [first look video]
Tales From Oak Island Series Premiere (History)
The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills (Bravo)
Vegas Lights & Country Nights: Countdown To The CMA Awards (ABC)
Zombieverse: New Blood (Netflix)
SEE YOU ON TUESDAY!