Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025:
A PERSONAL NOTE
There won't be a newsletter tomorrow (Thursday). Today is my 25th wedding anniversary and we are celebrating tomorrow with a special chef's table dinner experience and television will be the furthest thing from my mind.
I'm not going to gush much here - that's not why any of you subscribe to this newsletter. But I could not do any of this without the support of my wife Stephanie, who for whatever reason decided 26 years ago that I was someone she wanted to get to know. Being married to a journalist has meant that things haven't always been easy for her. But there isn't a day in the past 25 years when I didn't believe in my soul she is the best thing that ever happened to me.
So I'll see you again on Friday.
THURSDAY WILL BE A TOUGH DAY AT CNN
Tomorrow is the day in which the long-discussed wave of lay-offs will take place as the network "reinvents itself for its digital future." There's no clear indication of how deep the cuts will be, but one manager I spoke with earlier today who had been briefed on the layoffs said they would be deep "into the bone" of the news organization.
Layoffs are never easy, but they are even tougher when the cuts aren't accompanied by a clear sense of where the company is headed. I heard from one producer today who expected to receive a pink slip, and who told me that being let go was "like being kicked out of a clown car careening down the road."
While there might be a bit of bitterness behind those comments, it is difficult to see what CNN chief Mark Thompson has in mind for the network. There has been vague talk about making the network politically "less partisan," although so far that seems to mostly consist of bringing on a few hardline conservative voices to argue on camera with network contributors and anchors. Or moving anchors who are seen as being hard on Donald Trump to the overnight shift.
And it is especially not clear what a more digital CNN might look like. I suppose that means more of a presence on Max and perhaps more social media. But I haven't heard of any plans past that.
For what it's worth, I had my own idea of what CNN execs should do in this piece from last November.
'DUCK DYNASTY' IS RETURNING TO A&E
After years after it left the air, the unscripted series Duck Dynasty is returning to A&E. The new series will be called Duck Dynasty: The Revival, and has been given a 20 episode, two-season order by the network.
The new series will center on Korie and Willie Robertson and their adult children and grandchildren, all living on the family’s Louisiana homestead. It will not, however, feature Phil Robertson, the controversial patriarch of the family, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
From the official logline: "With their dynasty expanding into more than just ducks, Willie and Korie will bring their signature humor and family fun as they grapple with mapping out the future of Duck Commander, watching the kids navigate marriage, children and businesses of their own, and passing down the family legacy.”
Although it was announced by the network today, Willie Robertson has been discussing the new show for awhile, including during a November 2024 interview with Tucker Carlson. In the interview, he also told Carlson he "stayed out of" the 2024 election amid concerns it would distract from the Gospel message in his new book, Gospeler: Turning Darkness into Light One Conversation at a Time. In the book, Robertson encourages people to share their faith with others in transformational, one-on-one conversations.
While he told Carlson he has now publicly stayed out of politics, he definitely had thoughts about the 2020 and 2024 elections:
Robertson noted that in 2020, “people did not like” Trump amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the overall tenor changed significantly in the 2024 election. Reflecting on his prediction for the 2020 election, Robertson said Trump would win reelection “unless something really weird happens,” adding: “I said that, and they manufacture a virus in China, and then the weird thing happened, and there you go.”
Since the Duck Dynasty show ended, Korie Robertson has become a NYT best selling author of the books The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family And Ducks Built A Dynasty, Duck Commander Devotions For Kids, and Strong And Kind: Raising Kids Of Character. She also has a professional speaking career, with a fee of $30,000-$50,000 an appearance.
Two years ago, Korie Robertson sparked a number of headline by posting a long message about abortion that began by assuring readers that women had the right to choose what happened to their body. But she went on to say that abortion should never be an option and that when women are victims of rape or incest, it is the man involved who took away their ability to choose, not the pro life movement.
"In the end, I don't believe the killing of babies in the womb should be legal in this country, and I don't believe this is a woman's rights issue," she ended.
According to A&E, Duck Dynasty: The Revival will also have a streaming partner with episodes streaming after the conclusion of each season. While the streaming partner wasn't identified, I wouldn't be surprised to see it end up on Hulu, which already licenses a fair amount of older A&E programming.
SURPRISINGLY, THIS ISN'T AN ARTICLE FROM 'THE ONION'
Variety's Tatiana Siegel and Matt Donnelly have an article today entitled Hollywood Is Now Ready to Work With Trump: ‘You Didn’t Hear Biden Talking About How to Help Us’ and it so laughable and cringy that it often reads like one of The Onion's favorite parody pieces.
For some, a return to 2020 — before COVID, strikes and devastating wildfires crippled Hollywood’s limping economy — would be welcome, even if meant enduring Trump’s drive-by attacks on the industry. Members of the industry’s most left-wing contingent — the unions — are privately expressing hope that the president’s planned tariffs on imports may cover runaway production, thus creating a greater incentive to film in hard-hit hubs like Los Angeles and Atlanta.
One prolific indie film producer says he doesn’t care for Trump’s politics, but admits it is “refreshing to hear the office of the president focus on how we can get the movie business back on track — and back in Los Angeles.”
Now, it's important to note that Trump's message of "Hey, I want Hollywood to rise again and foreign production to be reduced" was included in the same message in which he threatened to withhold wildfire relief funds if California didn't change laws about DEI, climate change, and immigration. So that's not much of a promise to hang your hopes for the industry on.
And honestly, I have no idea who this person is, but what a self-centered, whiney jerk:
The producer made a film released last year chronicling historic events in L.A. “We had to shoot the whole thing in Bulgaria because it cost half as much. I had to sleep in a stinky hotel and not the house I worked my entire life to buy,” he says. “You didn’t hear Biden talking about how to help us.”
The article itself is all over the map, from discussing Hollywood's tendency to follow whatever direction the prevailing political winds are blowing to including Roseanne's belief that it was the liberalness of Hollywood that has impacted her career:
“I’m extremely happy that Trump won because I need artistic freedom,” Barr tells Variety. “And I was always under the assumption that I had that being an American. So I’d like it back.”
Having just seen Roseanne's insanely weird recent conservative rap video, I would argue that it's not liberal Hollywood that is holding back her career.
ODDS AND SODS
* Here is a rundown of today's global TV news.
* I just realized I was quoted in this Slate piece from a few days ago.
* HBO has picked up The White Lotus for a fourth season. Season three premieres Sunday, February 16th.
* The animated children's series Goldie, inspired by Emily Brundige's award-winning 2019 short film of the same name, will premiere globally Friday, February 14th on Apple TV+
* MSNBC and Georgetown’s Institute of Politics and Public Service will host a forum for candidates to lead the Democratic National Committee on January 30th, with the event streamed on the network’s YouTube channel.
* SNL writer, actress and stand-up Rosebud Baker's second comedy special entitled The Mother Lode will premiere Tuesday, February 18th on Netflix.
* MSNBC Films will debut King of the Apocalypse, a documentary about Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, on Sunday, February 2nd. Rhodes was one of the January 6th defendants who was released from prison after receiving a pardon from Donald Trump.
* George Lopez says he is ending his stand-up comedy career after the release of his upcoming special Muy Católico, which will premiere Tuesday, February 18th on Prime Video. Recorded at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the special hass Lopez musing on getting older, Latino family dynamics, generational clashes, superstitions and cultural quirks.
* New FCC chair Brendan Carr reversed a last-minute decision by the Biden administration-led regulator to reject bias complaints lodged by Donald Trump against three network TV news broadcasters. Carr moved the complaints against ABC, NBC and CBS – which accused them of being partial to Democrat Kamala Harris in their their coverage of the presidential campaign – back to a pending status.
* PBS announced that Weather Hunters, a new animated STEM series for viewers ages 5-8 produced by Al Roker, will premiere on July 7th, 2025.
* Indie parenting comedy Goodrich, starring Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis, will make its streaming premiere Friday, January 31st, on Max.
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22ND:
Captivated Series Premiere (Britbox)
Expedition Bigfoot Season Premiere (Discovery)
Expedition X Season Premiere (Discovery)
Nova: What Are UFOs? (PBS)
Pawn Stars Season Premiere (History)
Prime Target Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
The Thundermans: Undercover (Nickelodeon)
W.A.G.S. To Riches Series Premiere (Netflix)
Whiskey On The Rocks Series Premiere (Hulu) - (first look video)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23RD:
Bat War (Netflix)
C.B. Strike: The Ink Black Heart (HBO)
Crime Nation Season Premiere (The CW)
Father Brown Season Premiere (Britbox)
Harlem Season Three Premiere (Prime Video)
Police 24/7 Season Premiere (The CW)
Soju Rhapsody (Netflix)
The Family Business: New Orleans Series Premiere (BET+)
The Night Agent Season Two Premiere (Netflix) - (first look video)
SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!