Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories this week!
The TV world was stunned this week with the passing of Emmy nominee Michael K. Williams at the age of 54. Williams was perhaps best known for an acclaimed role on a show that never broke into the Emmys - The Wire. He was an HBO darling who also earned acclaim during his time on Boardwalk Empire and received Emmy nominations for TV movies and limited series The Night Of, Bessie and When They See Us as well as the documentary series Vice. He is considered the frontrunner to win Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Lovecraft Country this year. Voting closed shortly before his death so the vote won't be impacted by that but he still has a strong possibility of winning. I was not too familiar with Williams' work as The Wire and Boardwalk Empire remain on my "to-watch" list and I couldn't get into Lovecraft Country, but the outpouring of love from co-stars and critics is a testament to his appeal as an actor and person.
A highly anticipated series for awhile has been Amazon's adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the hit Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film. One of the big reasons is the series was set to star and by executive produced by critical darlings: Atlanta's Donald Glover and Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge but now Waller-Bridge has departed the production over "creative differences" with Glover. The role will be re-cast but this is a rough pre-production story for a highly anticipated show. If they can get another big name though, this may be a distant memory by the time the series airs as it is not slated to go into production until 2022 so we probably won't even see it until late 2022 or early 2023.
After rumors it was happening, it became official this week that Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist will return as a one-off movie for Roku. The Christmas-themed movie will air this holiday season and all 25 episodes of the series will also stream on Roku. It doesn't appear that this is a path towards renewal, it looks like the movie will be it but it will allow the creative team to tie up loose ends. The series was a favorite of many critics during its two year run but struggled to find an audience on NBC. I was more lukewarm on the series. I always appreciated its ambition but not always its execution.
#4 - "UNITED STATES OF AL" RE-WROTE PREMIERE
United States of Al premiered on CBS last spring to mostly poor reviews though many said the series was not as bad as the promos. The series, about a friendship between a Marine veteran and an Afghan interpreter, has now had to respond to real life crises. The summer of unrest in Afghanistan led to repeats of the show being pulled and the knowledge it couldn't just go on and not address what was going on. So an entire new script has been penned for the premiere to deal with the current events. As someone who tuned out of the show early, I will probably tune in to watch this premiere to see how they handle it.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES COMING UP THIS WEEK
My fifth post most weeks will look at the upcoming scripted shows. The launch of the broadcast fall season is still a week away but there's a lot coming this week too.
Today: Netflix premieres the sixth and final season of Lucifer. The one time FOX show has cheated death a couple times but this appears to actually be the end.
Sunday: HBO has limited series Scenes from a Marriage and Showtime has American Rust. Marriage stars Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac and is a remake of the acclaimed 1973 Ingmar Bergman original. American Rust is a rust belt family/crime drama starring Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney. So far, reviews haven't been that kind to either.
Monday: FX on Hulu has the long awaited premiere of Y: The Last Man. The long delayed series seemed like it might never see the light of day at various points of its long development.
Thursday: There are three premieres. FX on Hulu has The Premise, an anthology series from BJ Novak which will feature one of Ed Asner's final performances in its Sep 23 episode. Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol is Peacock's latest attempt to break into the conversation with a buzzy show and it'll be doing a weekly release, unlike most Peacock shows to date. Finally, Paramount+ has animated comedy The Harper House.
My most anticipated premiere of the week: Although it is not the type of show I usually like and I may ultimately find it's not for me, I am at least intrigued quite a bit by the premise of Y: The Last Man. I am interested in Scenes from a Marriage and American Rust but the tepid reviews have cooled my interest a bit. I also could see myself watching Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol.
Scenes from a Marriage but I'm also interested in Y: The Last Man and Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. I also am curious about American Rust but the reviews are cooling my interest.
Check back next week for a new week of blog posts!
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