Re: TV news for Feb. 2-8, 2025

On 2/8/25 12:36 PM, Robin Miller wrote:

     ABC news
  ‘General Hospital’s Charles Mesure Exits; ‘One Live To Live’s Chris McKenna To Take Over As Jack Brennan  (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/general-hospital-charles-mesure-exits-one- live-to-live-chris-mckenna-to-play-jack-brennan-1236277054/

I've already talked about this, but it bears repeating: BBOOOOOOOOO!!!!

     NBC news
  ‘SNL’: NBC To Air First Ever Episode Ahead Of 50th Anniversary  (Feb. 7)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/snl-nbc-first-ever-episode-1236281836/

Cool.

     Cable channel news
  ‘The English Teacher’ Renewed For Season 2 By FX  (Feb. 7)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/the-english-teacher-renewed-season-2- fx-1236281641/

Rapist gets his show renewed - only in Hollywood.

     Streaming service news--Apple TV+
  Holland Taylor Joins Matthew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson’s Brothers Comedy Series At Apple  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/holland-taylor-matthew-mcconaughey-woody- harrelsons-brothers-comedy-series-apple-1236280783/

Hmmmmm...

K-Pop Competition Series Starring Psy & Megan Thee Stallion Ordered At Apple With EP Lionel Richie  (Feb. 5)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/k-pop-competition-series-psy-megan-thee- stallion-apple-1236278809/

Oh, brother...  [roll]

Mark Strong Joins ‘Neuromancer’ Apple TV+ Series  (Feb. 4)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/mark-strong-neuromancer-apple-tv- series-1236277465/
 ["Mark Strong (Dune: Prophecy, Kingsman: The Secret Service) is set as a series regular opposite leads Callum Turner and Briana Middleton in 'Neuromancer,' Apple TV+‘s 10-episode drama series based on the award- winning novel of the same name by William Gibson. Created for television by Graham Roland and JD Dillard, Neuromancer follows a damaged, top-rung super-hacker named Case (Turner) who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high-stakes crime with his partner Molly (Middleton), a razor-girl assassin with mirrored eyes, aiming to pull a heist on a corporate dynasty with untold secrets."]

Cool.

‘Star City’: Rhys Ifans To Star In Apple TV+’s ‘For All Mankind’ Spinoff   (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/star-city-rhys-ifans-apple-tv-for-all- mankind-spinoff-1236276829/
 ["Created by Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and Ronald D. Moore, 'Star City' is another alt-history retelling of the space race ­when the Soviet Union became the first nation to put a man on the moon. But this time, we explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, showing the lives of the cosmonauts, the engineers, and the intelligence officers embedded among them in the Soviet space program, and the risks they all took to propel humanity forward."]

Eh - that got less promising quickly...

Corey Stoll Latest To Join Apple’s ‘Matchbox’ Movie  (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/matchbox-movie-adds-corey-stoll- apple-1236277044/
 ["All character details remain under wraps, as does the film’s plot. Inspired by Mattel‘s die-cast toy vehicle line of the same name, the project hails from Skydance and Mattel Films. Stoll is part of an expanding cast that also includes Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Teyonah Parris, Arturo Castro and Danai Gurira."]

OK?...

     Streaming service news--Hulu
  Sarah Michelle Gellar On Potential ‘Buffy’ Revival At Hulu: “We Will Only Make This Show If We Know We Can Do It Right”  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/sarah-michelle-gellar-buffy-revival-series- hulu-1236280402/

And what are the odds of that?...

     Streaming service news--Netflix

Nobody gets this! Esp. now that it costs, like, $50 a month!!

‘Sweet Magnolias’ EP On Season 4’s Shocking Death As Series Regular Cast Member Departs  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/sweet-magnolias-season-4-bill-dead-chris- klein-leaving-1236280862/

Weak!!

Melissa Gilbert Says ‘Little House On The Prairie’ Reboot At Netflix “Will Do Things We Didn’t Get To Do So Easily In ’70s”  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/melissa-gilbert-little-house-on-the- prairie-reboot-reaction-1236280327/

So, they'll f*ck it up?!

     Streaming service news--Paramount+
  ‘Mayor Of Kingstown’: Edie Falco, Lennie James & Laura Benanti Join Season 4 Of Paramount+ Series  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/mayor-of-kingstown-edie-falco-lennie-james- laura-benanti-season-4-1236280655/

I just am not interested enough in this show to sit down and watch it...

     Streaming service news--Peacock
  ‘Hysteria!’ Canceled By Peacock After One Season  (Feb. 4)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/hysteria-canceled-peacock-no- season-2-1236278525/

Another of those shows that I didn't get to, but may still watch one of these days.

     Streaming service news--Prime Video
  ‘Spider-Noir’: Amy Aquino & Andrew Robinson Join Amazon’s Marvel Series (Feb. 5)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/spider-noir-amy-aquino-andrew- robinson-1236278984/
 ["'Spider-Noir' tells the story of an aging and down-on-his-luck private investigator (Nicolas Cage) in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero."]

When does it get released?!!

Zac Efron To Star Opposite Will Ferrell In New Comedy From Amazon MGM Studios  (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/zac-efron-will-ferrell-amazon-mgm- studios-1236275565/
 ["The new comedy follows a young convict (Efron) fresh out of prison who takes a reality TV courtroom hostage blaming the megalomaniac TV judge (Ferrell) for a past ruling that the convict feels ruined his life."]

If only Will Ferrell were still funny...  :(

     Streaming service news--Other services
  ‘The Creep Tapes’ Renewed For Season 2 At Shudder  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/the-creep-tapes-renewed-season-2- shudder-1236280294/

Well, I still have never seen the original movie nor season #1!!1!

     Ratings
  ‘Paradise’ Premiere Ratings Are In: Disney Says Dan Fogelman Drama Attracted 7 Million Eyeballs Globally  (Feb. 5)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/paradise-ratings-dan-fogelman-drama-hulu- disney-plus-1236279509/

Yikes - in context, that's probably not that great...

     The business of TV
  Fortune’s Fickle: Sony’s Bid For Control Of ‘Jeopardy!’ & ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Distribution From CBS Halted By Judge  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/jeopardy-wheel-of-fortune-distribution- judge-ruling-1236280386/

Yep - seemed like Sony was pulling some shady sh*t.

British TV’s International Co-Productions Plummeted Last Year, Underscoring Panic About Funding Crisis  (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/british-tv-co-productions- plummet-2024-1236280157/

Brit TV is dead. We'll be OK...

Streaming Subscribers Gravitating Toward Ad Tiers, Samba TV Says; ‘The Penguin’ & ‘Landman’ Were Top Streaming Premieres In Second Half Of 2024   (Feb. 6)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/streaming-subscribers-ad-tiers-samba-tv- report-landman-the-penguin-1236280369/

So, it's the consumers themselves that will kill streaming, and ruin it just like cable TV. Terrific.

Bob Iger Won’t Rule Out Sale Of Smaller Networks As Cable Consolidates But Says Disney’s Linear Business “Not A Burden At All”  (Feb. 5)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/disney-ceo-bob-iger-on-linear-cable- networks-ma-1236278757/

Forget about "selling" - they need to *shutter* cable networks!

RIP Venu, But Lachlan Murdoch Says Fox Will Finally Launch Its Own DTC Service This Year  (Feb. 4)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/fox-launch-general-streaming-service-this- year-1236277661/

So, there will finally be a place to watch all the episodes of "Animal Control"?!
This actually seems like a really dumb move on Fox's part, to try to launch their own streaming service - they are too small, and too late to the market. It will likely be a disaster. They should have just used Tubi for this purpose.

Paramount Global Renews Contract With Nielsen After 4-Month Dispute (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/paramount-global-renews-nielsen-contract- after-dispute-1236276830/

Cowards!!

Starz And BET+ Bundle Up In New Prime Video Package  (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/starz-bet-plus-streaming-bundle-prime- video-1236276649/

This doesn't help me...

     Other News
  Critics Choice Awards: ‘Anora’ Takes Best Picture; ‘Shogun’, ‘Hacks’, ‘Baby Reindeer’ Lead TV ­ Full Winners List  (Feb. 7)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/critics-choice-awards-winners-2025-1236281548/

[roll]

Neil Gaiman Hit With Rape & Human Trafficking Suits After Months Of Allegations; Estranged Spouse Amanda Palmer Also Named In Multi-State Filings  (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/neil-gaiman-rape-lawsuits-amanda-palmer- filings-1236277339/

See?!

Amy Schumer To Open SeriesFest  (Feb. 3)
 https://deadline.com/2025/02/amy-schumer-seriesfest-1236276269/
 [SeriesFest runs from April 29 to May 4 in Denver]

So, they don't want people to go?!  ;p