Friday, April 23, 2021

THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 4/23/21

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

#1 - "HOW I MET YOUR FATHER" COMING TO HULU
The biggest new series news of the week came from Hulu where they handed a straight to series order to How I Met Your Father, a show with the same premise of (you guessed it) How I Met Your Mother. The new series stars Hillary Duff and counts the original creators among its executive producers. This has been a long gestating idea. As How I Met Your Mother was ending in 2014, there was a pilot for CBS called How I Met Your Dad starring Greta Gerwig. It was a surprising pass then (although the negative reaction to the original's finale probably didn't help) and the series has toiled around in development for years since. Now it will get a chance on Hulu. I'm mixed on this, I'm not sure we need to do this concept again when the original had so many wonderful things but its gimmick ultimately proved to be its downfall.


#2 - "MASTER OF NONE" RETURNING IN MAY
It was rumored in TV and awards circles for awhile but now it is true: Master of None is returning for a third season on Netflix in May, more than four years after its second season. The semi-autobiographical comedy from Aziz Ansari was put on hold for a variety of reasons including accusations against Ansari that were not nearly as clear cut as some #metoo situations. The new season will reportedly have only five episodes and focus on Lena Waithe's character. There were some things I absolutely adored about the first two seasons of Master of None and an episode about Waithe's character ("Thanksgiving") was a masterpiece. But it's been a long time, we'll see how it is coming back. 

#3 - FINAL "JEOPARDY" GUEST HOSTS
The final crop of Jeopardy guest hosts have been announced and the internet's choice of LeVar Burton will get his chance to host this summer. Many others were also announced including George Stephanopolous, Joe Buck (yuck) and Robin Roberts. Anderson Cooper is currently in his two week run as guest host and he has done a nice job so far. The Jeopardy team is keeping their thoughts on a permanent host close to the vest but a permanent host is expected to be announced this spring and take the reins in the fall. I still think Ken Jennings and executive producer Mike Richards are the leading contenders but I don't have any proof of that.

#4 - JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL JOINS "JOE EXOTIC"
John Cameron Mitchell, best known for Broadway's Hedwig and the Angry Inch and most recently seen on Hulu's Shrill is joining NBC/USA/Peacock's Tiger King-inspired series Joe Exotic as the title character. He will play opposite Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin. I never watched Tiger King even when everyone else was watching it in the early days of quarantine. But the casting of Mitchell and McKinnon has me intrigued.

#5 - "TED LASSO" RETURNING JULY 23
One of TV's brightest stars, Ted Lasso, will return for its second season on July 23! The feel-good comedy continues to gain fans and is an Emmys frontrunner. I imagine the second season will get a lot more pre-premiere buzz than the first season did as it has been a slow build as far as popularity.

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

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