Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, February 25th, 2025:
PRODUCTION NOTES
Tonight's newsletter is a bit later than normal. Family stuff, which I do try to prioritize, especially in chaotic days such as these.
EXCLUSIVE: A CABLE TV JOURNALIST WEIGHS IN ON JOY REID'S EXIT FROM MSNBC
As you might imagine, my reporting over the past few weeks on Hollywood's DEI issues and this week on the changes at MSNBC has sparked a lot of feedback, comments and tips from readers. More than 500 alone in the past 24 hours. And I want to tell all of you that I appreciate the messages and wish I had the room to pass along everything you're sharing with me.
But I felt these comments needed wider distribution and after a bit of back-and-forth this evening, the author agreed to let me share it. I agreed to describe her as a "veteran, non-white journalist who has made numerous appearances on cable news." And here are her thoughts, edited only to remove personably identifiable comments:
I will admit up front that I hadn't read your newsletter until this morning, when friends of mine and co-workers began sharing it in a group text. The comments from a staffer at Ms. Reid's show hit me hard. To be honest, there have been a lot of arguments today as we work our way through a lot of feelings that never seem to be that far below the surface in my world.
I believe what that person wrote when they told you they didn't believe Joy's firing was directly because of her race. But there are so many code words and uncomfortable truths tied up in the phrase "more mainstream." It's something I've dealt with my entire career and it's something I've discussed endlessly with non-white colleagues.
Back in the days when women were still trying to break into the executive ranks, they complained they had to be perfect every time. A male counterpart could screw up and survive. But any mistake by a woman was seen as some fatal flaw in their judgement or character. That reality is something nearly everyone today acknowledges was the case.
What my white colleagues and bosses don't quite comprehend is that is still the case with many of us. It's ironic how many self-proclaimed liberals still see issues important to people like myself as marginal or not in the mainstream. I can't afford to make a mistake or say anything that might be considered problematic. Even if the person who complains is doing it in bad faith.
I've thought a lot in recent days about comments made by new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who explained that the problem with having a black head of the Joint Chief of Staff is that you don't know if he deserves to be there or he's there because of DEI. And that is what too many of us still face in 2025. Even from people who claim they have our backs. They still see the color of our skin more than they value our accomplishments.
I can't tell you how many times an executive or producer has suggested I soften my look or tone. And most of the time, I'm not even sure what that means specifically. Although to me, it mostly sounds like they're saying "try and be more white."
I don't think MSNBC executives specifically took away the shows of Joy Reid, Katie Phang and Jonathan Capeheart because they aren't white. But as much as I hate to articulate it, I think at least on some level they were seen as "not one of us."
I truly appreciate her trust in me and if you have comments or thoughts of your own to share, please email me confidentially at
WHY EVERYONE IS MAD ABOUT NETFLIX'S NARNIA DEAL
I've written a lot about Netflix's long-held stance against providing their original films with a full-blown theatrical release. I don't have the access to the micro-level data I'd need to see to determine if the streamer's stance on this is the correct one. But it's one that is deeply held within the company's executive class and they have been very vocal about their intention to stick with very limited one or two week theatrical runs in the future.
And yet, there is a this cognitive dissonance about the subject when you talk to people in Hollywood. From movie critics, to studio executives and creatives, they can't seem to wrap their brains around Netflix's thinking on theatrical releases. And they have convinced themselves that if Netflix executives could just be persuaded to open their eyes to the "truth," Netflix would eagerly change its mind.
The latest chapter in this release date passion play comes from Greta Gerwig and her upcoming Netflix original movie Narnia. After an immense amount of pressure from the director, Netflix negotiated a deal for a two-week exclusive run for the movie in Imax theaters beginning in late November, 2026.
And not surprisingly, the deal doesn't seem to be making anyone happy, as a new piece from Kim Masters in Puck explains this evening:
Many in Hollywood are baffled by Netflix’s steadfast commitment to this filmmaker-unfriendly position. Scott Stuber, when he was chairman of Netflix Films, was openly warring with Sarandos on the issue before he left the company last year. That’s because a hit movie that gets a high-profile marketing push and plays for weeks in theaters can bring in big box office dollars and lead to a waterfall of money as the film progresses through various release windows and platforms. These days, Netflix can be part of that waterfall as studios license movies to the service after they’ve played on other platforms. (“Sometimes you get in bed with the devil,” as one studio executive put it.) With luck, a hit movie can launch a franchise and, critically important to Disney and NBCUniversal, a hit movie can also become a cultural phenomenon that sells a lot of merchandise and inspires new theme park attractions. Movies that have gone straight to streaming have yet to generate anything near that kind of impact.
As one frustrated agent noted, the streamer that ate Hollywood has already broken its own policy vows: that there would never be ads, for example, or that the streamer would never go into sports. Why draw the line at giving at least some movies full theatrical runs? Theater owners are baffled. “This has been a perplexing misdirection from Netflix in exhibitors’ minds for years,” says a veteran theater executive. “Exhibitors are kind of fed up with Netflix sticking their toe in the water and pulling back. Apple and Amazon have tried real theatrical runs, with mixed success. But they made a real attempt, and Netflix never has.”
I have so many thoughts, more than I have room for here. I have no doubt Gerwig would have preferred a full-blown theatrical run. But she knew what she was getting into when she agreed to the deal with Netflix, as have other filmmakers who have signed to do a Netflix original and then whined about it afterwards. If you don't agree with the terms, then don't do the deal. But willingly signing onto a deal and then trying to publicly renegotiate it feels a lot like faux outrage.
As for the rest of the comments, let me suggest you read a long piece I wrote in 2023 about theatrical releases for streaming films. It's long and there are a couple of points I'd tweek now based on what I've learned since then. But here is a paragraph that I think highlights the point I was making:
I apologize for the vagueness of this explanation, but I am already dancing on the edge of what I can share publicly. Basically, the data at least implies that the highest value viewers - longtime subscribers, hyper-engaged users as well as new subscribers who join because of the film's availability - are more engaged with the title if it is a streaming premiere rather than a title that had a theatrical run. The tipping point seems to be that 14-day period, which is one of the reasons you see Netflix and some others pushing so hard for that accelerated theatrical window. It's not ego or some sort of streaming business mass hysteria. There is a strong belief in some circles that a longer theatrical window lessens the value of the title to the streamer even though the overall viewing numbers won't change much. Because in the world of streaming, the type of subscribers and their engagement is more important than the overall viewing numbers.
Generally, Hollywood just doesn't understand how the specific revenue model works for a streamer such as Netflix. And I blame their management in part for this, because they have been unwilling to walk anyone through it publicly (although I know they've done it off-the-record with a few people, including myself). You can't understand the business model if no one is willing to explain it in depth.
This discussion reminds me that I have been kicking around a book on the streaming industry for at least two years. And I really need to somehow find the time to finish it and get it released. I do however, have the title: "Everything You Know About The Streaming Industry Is (Probably) Wrong."
A COUPLE OF INTERSTING NUGGETS FROM BREAKER
So far, Breaker, the newsletter from Lachlan Cartwright and Ravi Somaiya, is WAY too inside-NYC media to be of interest to me. But there are always a couple of small nuggets worth highlighting. And if you scrolled deep enough into tonight's edition, there were these two exclusives:
Dick Clark Productions, the producer of the Golden Globes and So You Think You Can Dance, laid off a handful of people in recent days as parent company Penske Media continues to cut costs. A rep for Penske declined to comment.
It has been a brutal few days at MSNBC. Leaks meant some staff found out their shows were being cut in the media and not from new boss Rebecca Kutler. And, we are told, others found out the same yesterday, when they saw a confidential document a HR staffer had left on a printer at 30 Rock. It listed shows canceled and people impacted, again before they had been formally told. It left some staffers in tears. A rep for MSNBC declined to comment.
FROM ALLYOURSCREENS
* On her Monday night program, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow delivered an impassioned and at times forceful rebuke of the recent changes to the network's lineup, as well as the way in which staffers were being treated by management. On the Tuesday edition of All In With Chris Hayes, Chris Hayes followed with a discussion of his friendship with Joy Reid and Alex Wagner.
* I'm not saying that the new Netflix unscripted series Million Dollar Secret was created after someone at the streamer said "Let's do our version of The Traitors, but we'll just change it up a bit." But at least based on what I've seen of it so far, that's a fairly likely scenario. Here is a first look at the trailer. And here are a few photos from the show.
* I've been uncovering old reviews and TV coverage of mine and adding it to AllYourScreens. Including this 1997 review of the short-lived ABC comedy Hiller And Diller, starring Kevin Nealon/Richard Lewis:
When I was in high school, I was driving an old powder blue 1964 Ford Galaxie. Well, to be precise, I spent most of my time pushing it to various mechanics and roadside garages. The thing seemed incapable of running for more than two days in a row, and it broke down so often that tow trucks used to follow me around. But I loved the car because it seemed as if better things were always just around the corner. It looked good in theory, and every time it would break down, I'd think to myself, "Well, it can only get better now."
And in that same irrational way, I love Hiller And Diller.
* Netflix announced on Tuesday that Fear Street: Prom Queen will premiere Friday, May 23rd. Here is a look at the teaser, as well as a first look at some images.
ODDS AND SODS
* Warner Brothers Discovery is launching Max in Australia on March 31st.
* Legendary Television is reviving 70s Irwin Allen TV shows Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land Of The Giants, and The Time Tunnel for new ongoing shows. There have been attempts in the past to reboot The Time Tunnel (including a 2006 version starring David Conrad) and that is an idea that I can see working under the right hands. I'm less convinced about Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, which was basically just the adventures of a submarine. Or Land Of The Giants, which was essentially an earlier, primitive version of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH:
Big Family, Big City (TLC)
Eyes On The Prize III: We Who Believe In Freedom Cannot Rest (PBS)
Full Swing Season Three Premiere (Netflix)
Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy (Peacock)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH:
Berlin ER Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
Pound 4 Pound Series Premiere (BET)
Shoresy Season Premiere (Hulu)
Survivor Season Premiere (CBS)
SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!
Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Tuesday, February 25th, 2025
- Details
- By Rick Ellis
