Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Friday, January 30th, 2025:
THE SIX-EPISODE APPLE TV+ DOCUSERIES 'VIETNAM: THE WAR THAT CHANGED AMERICA'
While there have been plenty of documentaries and history specials focusing on the Vietnam War and its impact on America, this new Apple TV+ docuseries is something different.
While there is an effort to generally lay out the arc of the war (and anti-war) effort, what distinguishes the series from other efforts are the number of stories from those who served or experienced what it as like to live through the Vietnam War. There are a large number of interviews - many of them who haven't previously spoken about their experiences. And there are some truly touching moments as the producers arrange on-camera reunions with people who haven't seen each other in decades. It's a remarkably touching program and a reminder of how some experiences can resonate across the entirety of your life.
I recently spoke with series producers Caroline Marsden and David Glover about the production and here is a piece of that conversation:
David, there's so many interviews in this and these interviews, they require a certain level of trust from the people you're speaking with. They have to have trust you are going to tell their story in the way that they hope it deserves to be told. How do you establish that relationship with these people?
David Glover: I suppose what I would just say is that, the process of talking to them can be a quite long one. Some of these people have never spoken before. Some of these people are talking about very, very sensitive and profound moments in their lives.
That's really how I feel. I imagine our contributors watching the show with their families. And you want to feel that when they watch it, they are not going to be disappointed.
You want them to feel as if you've done right by their story, however intense or difficult it is. That's what we aim for.
We can show them previous work that we've done, and I think they are often surprised by the length of our interviews. I think people realize the deep dive nature of the endeavor. Often, we've shown people footage that they have never seen before of themselves in Vietnam.
Caroline Marsden: We end up having really nice relationships with people.
And that's how we ended up doing the reunions. Because when we were talking to people, they started sharing with us stories about the connections that they made when they were out in Vietnam.
Someone would talk about this buddy of theirs that saved their lives. And we ended up having a long conversation with that person. And that's how the idea of reuniting people came about, because of the overriding stories on all sides.
Vietnam: The War That Changed America premiered today on Apple TV+.
WOULD YOU PAY FOR A CHUCK TODD SUBSTACK?
NBC News announced today that veteran political reporter Chuck Todd is leaving and taking his Todd Cast podcast with him when he goes.
It's not a huge surprise, given that Todd has been more-or-less without a clearly defined role at NBC since he "stepped away" from anchoring Meet The Press.
I've heard speculation from a couple of people at NBC who believe he's following former CNN anchor Jim Acosta to Substack. Which is both a smart idea and simultaneously might be a tough sell for political junkies.
Todd is the consummate political news insider. He's an institutionalist, part of the Beltway press for several decades. As such, he has a deep knowledge of political history and the levers of government tend to work in Washington.
But like a lot of true blue believers in conventional wisdom, he also has some blind spots that don't make him the best person to put context on what it happening in the Trump Era.
He does a regular Monday extended conversation with former CNN reporter Chris Cillizza, and while their discussions are often enlightening, they can also be wildly frustrating. To the point where I can't watch anymore, because neither of them seems to see the intellectual flaws in their point of view.
In a recent discussion, Todd was asked about the complaint that political reporters spent much more time focusing on the ethical lapses of the Biden Administration when Donald Trump had frequently done things that were arguably much worse. And his response was that the difference had been that Biden and his administration had argued they were more honest than Trump. So they should be held to a much higher standard, which is just nuts. He was essentially arguing that announcing publicly you're going to do something illegal or even questionable inoculates you from criticism of your actions.
That stance alone is so lacking of the things we need from political pundits in 2025 that I feel it almost disqualifies Todd from joining the conversation. It certainly is enough to convince me that I won't be paying for whatever projects he plans to launch.
TWEET OF THE DAY
ON A RELATED NOTE
I've written a lot about CNN and what I'd like to see happen at the network. But given the firehose of news going on right now, and the desire of Warner Bros Discovery David Zazlav to have a news network that is "non-partisan," why not spend some of the money recently allocated to CNN's reboot to do the same for CNN Headline News?
While it's been a looong time since Headline News was doing its endless string of 30-minute newscasts format, this feels like a good time to bring that format, which by its nature is non-partisan.
By taking advantage of the existing CNN News resources and deals with CNN affiliates, the overall news collection costs will be low. And as longtime viewers of that original format might remember, the newscasts often didn't change that much from half hour to half hour.
But it's unlike anything currently available on cable news and for that matter, it's a format that could be shared on a branded FAST channel.
Currently, CNN Headline News is running nothing but reruns of true crime programs, which might be cheap, but it certainly isn't much of an audience magnet.
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND THIS WEEKEND
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31ST:
Ancient Aliens Season Premiere (History)
Dark Match (Shudder)
Fire Country Spring Premiere (CBS)
Guy’s Ultimate Family Cruise (Food)
Inside The 67th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
Lucca's World (Netflix)
New York Homicide Season Premiere (Oxygen)
Outback Opal Hunters Season Premiere (Discovery)
S.W.A.T. Spring Premiere (CBS)
The Eastern Gate Series Premiere (Max)
The Snow Girl Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
Tom Green: Country Series Premiere (Prime Video)
Vietnam: The War That Changed America (Apple TV+)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, 2025:
An Unexpected Valentine (Hallmark)
Can You Feel The Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story (Lifetime)
New York Homicide Season Premiere (Oxygen)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND:
Common Side Effects (Adult Swim)
Dog Detectives (Animal Planet)
Funny Woman (PBS)
Murder In Nashville (Lifetime)
The 67th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
Very Scary Lovers Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD:
All American (The CW)
Below Deck Down Under Season Premiere (Bravo)
Bogata: City Of The Lost (Netflix)
Celebrity IOU Season Premiere (HGTV)
Contraband: Seized At The Border Season Premiere (Discovery)
911: Lone Star Series Finale (Fox)
The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Big Game (The Roku Channel)
The Hunting Party Series Premiere (NBC)
The Voice Season Premiere (NBC)
SEE YOU ON MONDAY!