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THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 4/30/21

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

#1 - OSCAR RATINGS COLLAPSE
Everyone saw it coming and there was no pleasant surprise. The Oscars were the latest awards show pandemic victim. The critically panned ceremony plunged 58% from last year to an all-time low and badly miscalculated the format itself with lots of critiques on the dullness of the night. They also made a very bad gamble that the late Chadwick Boseman would win Best Actor and decided to end the night with that award instead of Best Picture. Of course Boseman did not win and the winner was an absent Anthony Hopkins so the night ended with a thud. The ratings drop is not surprising. People are tired of pandemic awards shows and it was hard for the nominated movies to be a big draw with theaters closed a lot of the year. But they certainly didn't do themselves any favors with how the show was put together. I hope next year brings a more normal ceremony and better ratings.

#2 - "FLINTSTONES" SEQUEL IN DEVELOPMENT
FOX has put an animates sequel to The Flintstones in development called Bedrock. The network that loves their animated sitcoms tried a Flintstones reboot from Seth MacFarlane almost a decade ago but that version never got past the development stage. This version comes from Elizabeth Banks, who will also voice a 20-something year old Pebbles Flintstone. I'm not a big animated fan but I am a fan of the original and I've thought a reboot would be a worthwhile endeavor since the MacFarlane project. I'm more likely to watch this than a usual FOX cartoon!

#3 - CW SUMMER SCHEDULE
The CW announced its summer schedule this week and it seems as though some of it at least will bleed into the fall. The CW seems the most committed to turning into a year-round programming network. Shows like Roswell, New Mexico, In the Dark, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Riverdale will all air a significant number of episodes in the summer. Last summer's successful newbie Stargirl will also return as will some acquired programming, something the CW was doing even before COVID. Most interesting to me is The Republic of Sarah, premiering June 14 and the most interesting new CW show for me in awhile.

#4 - SERIES ORDERS OF THE WEEK
It was a fairly quiet week for news but there were quite a few orders including a ballet dramedy called The Big Leap heading to FOX next season. Starring Scott Foley, the series seems like a potential pairing with The Masked Singer. Also ordered were a comedy for Peacock called Wolf Life Me and a reboot of reality show Don't Forget the Lyrics on FOX. On the renewal front was Amazon's animated Invincible, which was renewed for two seasons.

#5 - PREMIERE DATES ANNOUNCED
Several premiere dates were also announced. Most notable was Physical, an Apple TV+ dramedy starring Rose Byrne that will bow on June 18. The 80s set series looks intriguing. Netflix announced its fantasy series Sweet Tooth will premiere on June 4 while Paramount Plus returns Why Women Kill on June 3 and FOX launches Fantasy Island on August 10. Finally, two very high profile revival shows were given general but not specific timeframes. HBO Max's revival of Gossip Girl will bow in July and Showtime's much awaited attempt to fix the end of Dexter with a new season will premiere in the "fall."

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