Friday, February 26, 2021

THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 2/26/21

Here's a look at my Top 5 TV News Stories of the week!

#1 - GOLDEN GLOBES PREDICTIONS
The Golden Globes are this Sunday! Here are my predictions for the TV categories:

Drama Series
Will/Should Win: The Crown
Should Have Been Nominated: Bridgerton

Drama Actor
Will/Should Win: Josh O'Connor, The Crown
Should Have Been Nominated: Justin Hartley, This is Us

Drama Actress
Will/Should Win: Emma Corrin, The Crown
Should Have Been Nominated: Phoebe Dynevor, Bridgerton

Comedy Series
Will/Should Win: Ted Lasso
Should Have Been Nominated: Never Have I Ever

Comedy Actor
Will/Should Win: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Should Have Been Nominated: Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Comedy Actress
Will Win: Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Should Win: Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Should Have Been Nominated: Zoe Kravitz, High Fidelity

TV Movie/Limited Series
Will/Should Win: The Queen's Gambit
Should Have Been Nominated: Mrs. America

TV Movie/Limited Series Actor
Will Win: Hugh Grant, The Undoing
Should Win: Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird
Should Have Been Nominated: Chris Evans, Defending Jacob

TV Movie/Limited Series Actress
Will/Should Win: Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit
Should Have Been Nominated: Reese Witherspoon, Little Fires Everywhere

TV Supporting Actor
Will Win: Dan Levy, Schitt's Creek
Should Win: Brendan Gleeson, The Comey Rule
Should Have Been Nominated: Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

TV Supporting Actress
Will Win: Gillian Anderson, The Crown
Should Win: Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek
Should Have Been Nominated: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, High Fidelity

#2 - PARAMOUNT PLUS BONANZA
Paramount Plus went absolutely crazy with news on Wednesday afternoon as it revealed tons of scripted and unscripted programming that will air soon or in the future on the streamer, the rebranded CBS All Access that will launch on March 4. There is far more than I could put in one paragraph so I will discuss some highlights on the scripted front. Many classic Paramount titles are getting TV series adaptations including Flashdance, The Italian Job (yay!) and Love Story. These movie adaptations join some previously announced series based on The Godfather and Grease. For some reason, they will already be reviving Criminal Minds. The Halo TV show will move to the streamer from Showtime. The Frasier revival is officially coming. There is not one but two Yellowstone spinoffs in the works (though Yellowstone itself airs past seasons on Peacock) and Younger will move from TV Land to Paramount Plus for its seventh and final season. I think Paramount Plus has a ton to offer but its launch is reminding me of HBO Max. A ton of content from different portfolios but not much focus in the way that Disney focused on their major brands and building out from there. As a result, I feel as though this will be scattered and a disappointing launch but it will probably gain attention as some of the originals join the fray.

#3 - "THE TWILIGHT ZONE" CANCELLED
While the Paramount Plus day was all about new shows and revivals, there was one nugget of news about a cancellation. Jordan Peele's reboot of The Twilight Zone will not return for a third season. The series had a lot of attention when it premiered in April 2019 but the buzz before the premiere died down after mixed reviews and viewer reaction. Reportedly the streamer wanted it to continue but Peele and fellow executive producer Simon Kinberg were ready to pull out. I watched both seasons of the show and I thought there were a couple really good episodes but a lot of misfires too. This is the third revival of The Twilight Zone to not make it past two seasons as the struggle continues to capture the magic of the original.

#4 - PREMIERE DATES ALL OVER THE PLACE
There were tons, and I mean tons, of premiere dates announced this week. I'm not going to list them all but the ones that most interest me are the fourth season of The Handmaid's Tale (April 28 on Hulu), The Underground Railroad (May 14 on Amazon), The Republic of Sarah (June 14 on The CW) and The Mysterious Benedict Society (June 25 on Disney+) Other notable ones include Kung Fu on April 7 on The CW, Loki on June 11 on Disney+ and Turner & Hooch on July 16 on Disney+.

#5 - GILLIAN ANDERSON JOINS "THE FIRST LADY"
One of the most anticipated series coming in the future is Showtime's The First Lady, an anthology series focusing on three first ladies a season. We already knew two headliners from the first season - Viola Davis as Michelle Obama and Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford. This week, it was announced that the third star will be Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. I really liked Anderson's polarizing portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Crown so this makes me even more exciting. Also joining the cast is O-T Fagbenle as Barack Obama.

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

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