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THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 11/5/21

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

#1 - NBC HOLIDAY PREMIERES
NBC announced that it will air three holiday episodes of returning comedies and two comedy premieres over the course of three days in December. Workplace comedy American Auto will premiere after The Voice with back to back episodes. This is a similar strategy that was used years ago with Superstore (which came from the same creator as American Auto) but of course The Voice isn't the powerhouse it used to be. The next night, NBC is premiering Grand Crew with two episodes about 8pm. That comedy is about young black professionals in Los Angeles. Finally on Wednesday, there are special holiday episodes of Young Rock, Kenan and Mr. Mayor. This is a UK style approach to air a special holiday episode out of season and sort of a fun idea. All five comedies will air their regular seasons in early 2022 but the dates/times haven't been announced.

#2 - ABC WINTER PREMIERE DATES
ABC also announced plans for new launches starting with Abbott Elementary, which will premiere on December 7 at 9:30pm. It will move to 9pm in January and be paired with the final season of Black-ish starting January 4. I think the commercials for Abbott Elementary have looked funny but comedies have been having a real tough time breaking through lately. Elsewhere, The Bachelor will premiere January 3 and take up its usual Monday 8pm slot. New Latinx family drama Promised Land will premiere on January 24 and air Mondays at 10pm in place of The Good Doctor, which will go on hiatus. That's probably one of the better slots ABC has available. Game show The Chase will continue in place of A Million Little Things as well.

#3 - "SQUID GAME" TO COMPETE AS DRAMA AT WINTER AWARDS
Netflix announced this week that its Korean sensation Squid Game will compete as a drama and not as a limited series at the Winter Awards. The violent series is a huge hit but it remains to be seen if it can be an awards player. The series hasn't been renewed for a second season yet but the drama category seems to be more open for Netflix without some of their drama mainstays like The Crown or Ozark in the competition. A second season also seems very likely so Drama would not only be the more logical category but also the correct one.

#4 - JANET JACKSON WILL BE TOPIC OF NEXT NYT DOCUMENTARY
It was announced this week that Janet Jackson and her infamous Super Bowl Halftime Show will be the subject of the next New York Times documentary for Hulu. The last one, about Britney Spears, really put things in motion and led to Britney's conservatorship ending. While there's less pressing matters related to Jackson's incident, it wouldn't be surprising to see a more thorough reframing of what happened nearly 17 years ago.

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

Today: There are two final season premieres. Apple TV+ has the premiere of the third and final season of Dickinson, which will air weekly. The series has had its share of supporters but wasn't really able to break through. Netflix drops the third and final season of Narcos: Mexico, which was last seen in February 2020. Netflix also has the fifth season premiere of the animated Big Mouth, which has already been renewed for a sixth season.

Sunday: Showtime has the highly anticipated premiere of the revival of Dexter for what is considered a limited revival ninth season. The series, an Emmy nominated hit that ran from 2006-2013, famously ended very badly so this is an attempt to course correct and give it a better ending.

Wednesday: Netflix has the second season of Gentefied. Like Narcos: Mexico, the last season premiered back in February 2020.

Thursday: Paramount+ has the revival of The Game, a series that had a long run first on the CW and then on BET. HBO Max has Season 2 of South Side. The first season aired on Comedy Central way back in the summer of 2019. AMC+ has the Lucy Hale thriller Ragdoll, a co-production with the UK.

My pick for the week: Not a lot I'm interested in this week except for Dickinson, a very delightful comedy that received six nominations in my Benjamonster Awards last summer including Outstanding Comedy Series. I look forward to seeing how it ties up, though I wish it was going longer.

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