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THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 1/22/21

Here's a look at my Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

#1 - RENEWALS ALL AROUND
There were several renewals this week from many different networks. Most notable but least surprising was Bridgerton on Netflix. The show, which became a very buzzy show following its premiere on Christmas. The second season will follow the second book of the series it is based on and will turn its attention to a different member of the Bridgerton family. Meanwhile, TNT has renewed Snowpiercer for a third season ahead of its second season premiere on January 25. Peacock has renewed Saved by the Bell for a second season. One of the few Peacock originals, it received some critical attention but hasn't seemed to break through in the public conversation. Finally, BET renewed Sistas for a third season.

#2 - MICHELLE PFEIFFER JOINS "THE FIRST LADY"
Michelle Pfeiffer has joined Showtime's forthcoming anthology series The First Lady. Pfeiffer will play Betty Ford and she officially joins Viola Davis as Michelle Obama. The first season will focus on Ford, Obama and Eleanor Roosevelt (not yet cast). With these giant names attached, this is already shaping up to be a major awards player whenever it premieres. It has not started filming yet so we're probably looking at 2022 for this one.

#3 - "THE MUPPET SHOW" COMING TO DISNEY PLUS
It's not all that often anymore that people get excited about an old title coming to streaming. Most of the big ones are available somewhere. But many were quite excited to hear that The Muppet Show will make its long-awaited streaming debut on Disney Plus on February 19. The pop culture favorite ran for 120 episodes from 1976-1981 and has been hard to find. The first three seasons were released on DVD while the fourth and fifth seasons have been MIA with music rights likely a factor.

#4 - PARAMOUNT PLUS LAUNCH DATE
It was announced this week that CBS All Access will officially rebrand as Paramount Plus on March 4. there hasn't been a lot of detail given but we will certainly here more as things get closer. I hope they have something planned to help with the re-launch or else it could be a real quiet switchover. 

#5 - BIDEN INAUGURATION UP 4% FROM TRUMP
Since I know there's a former President now who obsessed over ratings, it's nice to report than Joe Biden's inauguration was up 4% in TV ratings from Donald Trump's inauguration in 2017. The event was more made for TV than usual thanks to the pandemic but it's still a great thing to mention.

Check back next week for a new week of blog posts!
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