Here's a look at this week's Top 5 TV news stories! I'll be taking off next week from the blog for Thanksgiving so look for the posts to continue on Monday, November 30!
Late night's elder statesman, Conan O'Brien, is leaving the arena after 28 years with the end of the current season of Conan in June 2021. He hosted Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993-2009, had a very infamous short run on The Tonight Show from 2009-2010 and has hosted Conan on TBS since Fall 2010. He will continue to do the Conan Without Borders specials for TBS and host a weekly variety series for HBO Max. This is not surprising as there were rumors about Conan coming to an end a few years ago. While never a ratings king, O'Brien has been a fixture in late night for a very long time. I've never watched him regularly but I thought he handled the awkward Tonight Show debacle with such class and grace and it gave me a lot of respect for him. When he departs, the new longest tenured late night host will be Jimmy Kimmel, who has been on the air since January 2003.
With his Saturday Night Live tenure coming to an end (thank goodness for more than one reason), Alec Baldwin's next project will be teaming with Kelsey Grammer for a comedy on ABC from some of the team behind Modern Family. The project stars Baldwin and Grammer as former roommates who were driven apart by their egos (there's also a third roommate who is still uncast). The series is being planned for this season so expect more news soon. I'm pretty mixed on Baldwin and Grammer (especially Baldwin) and soured on Modern Family over the years after its dynamite first few seasons so consider me skeptical.
FOX is getting in on the classic game show craze with a reboot of Name That Tune. The new version will be hosted by Jane Krakowski with American Idol alum Randy Jackson serving as the bandleader. The series has had several iterations dating all the way back to the 1950s but this is the highest profile return of the series in awhile. FOX is also the network with the most coherent and complete winter schedule as this was the one missing piece (Weds at 9pm).
#4 - CHARLIE BROWN SPECIALS HIT BROADCAST AFTER ALL
After much backlash to Apple TV+ taking over exclusive rights to airing the Peanuts holiday specials, they have relented to an extent and struck a deal to air them on PBS. It's too late for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown but A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will air this Sunday at 7:30pm and A Charlie Brown Christmas will air December 13 at 7:30pm.
#5 - "SPACE FORCE" AND "WOKE" RENEWED
Renewals this week included Netflix's Space Force (last Friday) and Hulu's Woke. Space Force was a big budgeted disappointment that had tons of hype and interest but was mostly rejected by fans (and with good reason). It will supposedly undergo a creative revamp but consider me skeptical. Woke didn't seem to get into the conversation much with its September premiere but Hulu has been very patient with their comedies and given them times to find their place as Ramy, PEN15 and Shrill have all done to some extent.
Check back on November 30 for a new week of blog posts! Happy Thanksgiving!
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