Skip to main content

THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 12/18/20

Here's a look at my Top 5 TV news stories of the week! After today, the blog will be taking a holiday break and will return with all new posts on January 4!

#1 - LOTS OF REBOOTS COMING
This week had a lot of news of reboots & revivals. Of course that's a very popular trend on TV in general but it felt like we had a lot of news on that front this week. NBC is going back to the 80s with the announcement that they are developing a new version of hit comedy Night Court, which ran from 1984-1992. It will feature celebrated original star John Larroquette and center on the daughter of original character Harry Stone (the late Harry Anderson). The next day we got the news that L.A. Law, which ran from 1986-1994 on NBC, is in development to be revived at ABC with original star Blair Underwood returning. ABC is also eying a primetime sequel series to All My Children with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos attached to executive produce and perhaps appear. All those shows are in development, not officially ordered. Officially ordered is a reboot of Fantasy Island, set to air next summer on FOX. The anthology series was an escapist hit in its original run from 1977-1984. A 1998 reboot on ABC did not fare as well. I'm not sure any of these projects will work but we know the networks love a known title.


#2 - "LIZZIE MCGUIRE" DEAD AT DISNEY
One revival not going forward is the Lizzie McGuire revival planned for Disney+ after lots of fits and starts. The series was announced for the then upcoming streamer in August 2019. After some squabbling about content, star Hilary Duff publicly campaigned for the show to move to Hulu, which is also under the Disney umbrella. Other more mature-themed shows like Love, Victor and High Fidelity made the jump and Duff wanted a more modern and adult version of Lizzie. However, the show had some creative shuffling and continued to have behind the scenes issues and so Disney ultimately killed the entire plan. Perhaps they'll try again in a couple years but it doesn't seem like it will happen anytime in the near future.

#3 - "SUPERSTORE" SPINOFF IN THE WORKS
Fresh off the announcement that the current season of Superstore on NBC will be the final one, the network announced that it is developing a spinoff starring series regular Nichole Sakura and recurring star Johnny Pemberton. The series, tentatively titled Bo & Cheyenne, will focus on the two wild characters who are often in a state of arrested development. I enjoy Cheyenne as a character and found Bo to be hilarious in small doses. I am not convinced though that they can carry an entire show as the leads. We'll see, perhaps...

#4 - "EMPIRE" SPINOFF NOT IN THE WORKS
Meanwhile, a different spinoff will not be going forward. FOX has announced they are not continuing to develop a spinoff of Empire focused on Taraji P. Henson's character, Cookie. I never really understood this because it's not like Cookie was a side character, she was a major lead. So it felt weird to me that they would try to do a show with her as a lead again. Plus Empire went from being a massive phenomenon to a low-rated flop over its six year run so this is probably the right call.

#5 - "A.P. BIO" RENEWED
Peacock has renewed A.P. Bio for a fourth season. The series aired for two seasons on NBC before moving to Peacock for its third season. With Brave New World cancelled and other originals delayed by the Pandemic, this is the first series to get renewed at the young streamer.

Happy Holidays and check back on January 4 for a new week of blog posts!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EPISODE GUIDES: Rhoda Season Five

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Five (the final season) of  Rhoda ! RHODA: SEASON FIVE 1978 13 episodes Rhoda' s final season was a truncated one as the show was cancelled in December 1978 after only 13 episodes had been produced (and only nine had aired). This feels like a continuation from season four in many ways except with the ill-advised split between Ida and Martin (more on that below). While  Rhoda  has an occasional good moment and even a couple decent episodes, it is a show that seems so wildly different from season one and not in a good way.  Rhoda  could never figure out what it fully wanted to be and only made it four and a half seasons as a result. Starring Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Julie Kavner as Brenda Morgenstern  (13 episodes) Ray Buktenica as Benny Goodwin  (11 episodes) Kenneth McMillan as Jack Doyle  (9 episodes) Nancy Wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1995-1996 Thursdays

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1995-96 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Charlie Grace The Monroes Various Programs Oct Murder One Nov Various Programs Dec Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Jan Feb World’s Funniest Videos Before They Were Stars! Mar Apr May NBC was the powerhouse on Thursday nights but ABC still gave it the old college try in the Fall of 1995 with a trio of new dramas that they hoped would help them cut into the Peacock's dominance. Headlining their night was Murder One , a high profile new show from Steven Bochco that received much of the network's attention before the season started. The series focused on one murder case for an entire season, whi...
Post a Comment
Read more

DECADE IN REVIEW: The Best Comedies of the 2010s

During the month of December, I will be looking back at the decade that was the 2010s on TV. I will be sharing my favorite sitcoms, dramas, the best episodes, the best performances and the worst shows of the decade. To be eligible for this list, a show had to air the majority of its episodes in the 2010s. However, for the rankings and determination, all episodes were taken into account, including ones that may have aired before 2010. I will also preface that there are comedies that have aired this decade that I haven't watched yet so this is the best of what I have watched. To be fair, that preface is more true for dramas. There's not a ton of unwatched comedies sitting in my Netflix or Amazon watchlist. So here are my Top 10 comedies of the 2010s! Close Calls:  Master of None (Netflix) - An inconsistent but occasionally fascinating commentary on many life issues done so with innovative storytelling. The Good Place (NBC) - A show that aims high with a fascinating premis...
Post a Comment
Read more