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THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 10/8/21

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

#1 - "L.A. LAW" PILOT ORDERED AT ABC
It wasn't a super busy week for TV news but it wouldn't be a week without news of a reboot or revival. This week's news on that front is that a reboot of L.A. Law earned a pilot order on ABC with original star Blair Underwood attached. The original L.A. Law series ran from 1986-1994 on NBC. The series, created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, was a critical darling and ratings smash early in its run, winning four Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series. But it was also known for going off the rails (or more specifically, down an elevator shaft) and later seasons were panned quite a bit. It also has never been much of a player in the syndication or streaming world so this is not a title that I think many have much of a connection to. If there's only middling interest in returns of shows like The Wonder Years or CSI, I am skeptical that there will be any interest in a new L.A. Law. We'll see, I guess.


#2 - "WANDAVISION" SPINOFF IN THE WORKS
There has been a lot of speculation that WandaVision won't actually be a limited series and there will be a second season. That may or may not be true, but Disney+ announced this week that it is developing a spinoff starring Emmy nominated Kathryn Hahn's character, Agatha Harkness. Hahn earned rave reviews for WandaVision and was the frontrunner for the Emmy before being upset by Julianne Nicholson of Mare of Easttown. She was my winner for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series so even though I'm not a big Marvel fan, I'll probably check this one out.

#3 - "BETTER THINGS" ENDING WITH SEASON 5
FX's acclaimed dramedy Better Things will come to an end with its upcoming fifth and final season. The series, created by and starring Pamela Adlon, has been a critical darling from the start and Adlon has been nominated twice for an Emmy for her role. The final season is likely to return in 2022. I have never seen the show, it's one of those missing gaps in my repertoire of acclaimed TV I watch right now but I do hope to check it out sometime.

#4 - NEW MIKE FLANAGAN SERIES AT NETFLIX
Mike Flanagan has been Netflix's go-to horror guru for the last couple years with The Haunting of Hill House in 2018, The Haunting of Bly Manor last year and Midnight Mass this year. All three have been fall releases and part of the dialogue for good spooky shows to watch. His latest project for the streamer sounds equally interesting: The Fall of the House of Usher, based on stories from Edgar Allen Poe. The limited series features themes of "madness, family, isolation and identity" and will probably be a nice addition leading up to Halloween 2022 or 2023.

#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
Here's a look at this week's scripted premieres!

Today: Most Fridays this fall have had a big time streaming premiere but it's a pretty quiet day today. Netflix has multi-camera sitcom Pretty Smart that seems in the vein of some of their failed comedies from earlier this year like The Crew and Country Comfort. Apple TV+ launches Spanish and English comedy Acapulco. And the CW's fall gets started with the third season premiere of Nancy Drew on a new night.

Sunday: CBS's fall Sunday lineup finally gets underway with the returns of The Equalizer, NCIS: Los Angeles and SEAL Team. SEAL Team will air just four episodes on CBS before it moves to Paramount+.

Monday: Netflix drops the second season of The Babysitters Club. The first season, which aired in Summer 2020, got solid critical attention for a show geared to a pre-teen audience.

Tuesday: USA & Syfy are joining forces for Chucky, the first TV series based on the popular horror movie franchise. USA and Syfy seem like an odd fit for this show but it's gotten at least some attention with promotion in recent weeks.

Wednesday: Hulu launches Dopesick, a star-studded limited series about the opioid crisis. If it catches on, it could be another contender in the stacked limited series field. Elsewhere, Disney+ has genre show Just Beyond based on a graphic novel. Among returning series, the CW has new seasons of DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman while USA launches a new season of The Sinner and BET has a new season of Twenties.

Thursday: Paramount+ launches the new dark comedy Guilty Party starring Kate Beckinsale. The show seems a little tonally unusual but has gotten some decent buzz. Elsewhere, the CW brings back Legacies, Netflix has the second season of Another Life, which aired its first season two years ago. HBO Max has the animated Aquaman: King of Atlantis and CBS brings back B Positive for Season 2 a week later than originally planned. 

My pick for the week: Although there's a lot of shows premiering, there's not a ton I'm interested in this week so the easy choice is Dopesick. With a great cast led by Michael Keaton and an interesting topic, I've been quite curious to check this one out. I know reviews have been mixed but I'm still interested. I did watch all of B Positive last year so I'll at least start off the season with it and I might check out Guilty Party. That's about it for me.

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