Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week! The blog is taking a two week holiday break so I will return with posts on Monday, January 3!
In a story that has been brewing for awhile, Jeff Garlin is out at The Goldbergs following HR investigations. A very revealing interview between Garlin and reporter Maureen Ryan a few weeks back shed some light on some on-going issues on the set of The Goldbergs. Garlin didn't necessarily deny much of it but attempted (poorly) to explain and rationalize it. He also implied he wouldn't return to the show even if it was renewed. But now he has departed the series entirely that is being termed "mutual" though it seems like his hand was forced a little bit. He had one day left of filming but they will use some editing magic to make it work. The Goldbergs was originally slated for 18 episodes this season but after Garlin's departure, they upped it to 22 so it remains to be seen how the show will address the character's absence. Although The Goldbergs is still the highest rated comedy on ABC's Wednesday block, it seems like it might be a good time to end the series. The main character is graduating high school, the series is tired creatively, co-star George Segal died last season and now Garlin is out. Time to read the writing on the wall, ABC.
There was a surprise announcement at the end of FOX News Sunday this past weekend. Anchor Chris Wallace, who has hosted the flagship show for 18 years, announced he was leaving and it was effective immediately. The short goodbye and terse press statement from FOX News made it clear that that something was going on and we found out in less than an hour: Wallace opted not to renew his contract with FOX and will join CNN's new streaming service, CNN+, when it launches in early 2022. This was a big deal because Wallace was one of the last respected journalists at FOX News which has seen its opinion programming take over the news division slowly but surely for years. He'll probably fit in better with CNN+ but will have less of an impact for sure especially since I'm not convinced at all that anyone wants CNN+.
The Golden Globe nominees were announced this week despite a big shrug from Hollywood since the organization behind the Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is mired in scandal and has been for nearly a year. The ceremony will not air on NBC this year and it seems unlikely many or any stars will attend but the awards will still be given out. As usual though, there were some interesting choices by the Globes in TV categories with shows like Lupin, Squid Game, Reservation Dogs and Only Murders in the Building breaking through. One of the bigger surprises as the Winter Award nominees have started to get announced is the lack of love for The White Lotus, which is really only seeing breakout Jennifer Coolidge get in. For the Globes, it managed to lose out in a Limited Series nomination to the much less buzzy Impeachment: American Crime Story and Dopesick.
#4 - RENEWALS & CANCELLATIONS
As the year winds down, we got some renewals and cancellations this week. Disney+ cancelled Diary of a Future President after two seasons while BET+ cancelled Bigger also after two seasons. Netflix announced the upcoming season of After Life will be its final one while Apple TV+ renewed Servant for a fourth and final season ahead of the third season's premiere in January. Elsewhere, Paramount+ renewed the underrated Why Women Kill for a third season and CSI: Vegas will return for a second season on CBS despite middling ratings and reception. Original series star William Petersen returned for the revival but will not return for the second season.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES COMING UP
With the blog heading on a break, here's a look at the next couple weeks of premeires!
This Week:
Paramount+ has the premiere of the Yellowstone prequel 1883 on Sunday. The series stars Sam Elliott, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw among others. Of course Yellowstone is a huge hit for Paramount Network but it streams on Peacock and not Paramount+ thanks to wonky licensing deals. So this is Paramount+'s attempts to cash in. We won't really know how well it does since it's on a streamer. If it appeals to the Yellowstone crowd, they aren't necessarily a crowd that will be adept at accessing it on Paramount+. Elsewhere, Netflix has the return of Emily in Paris on Wednesday for its second season. The series has often been mocked but it also received a surprising Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. Elsewhere, the CW has a new season of Dynasty on Monday and TNT has the final season premiere of Claws on Sunday.
The Week of Dec 27:
The week between Christmas and New Year's is pretty quiet as usual but there are a couple high profile premieres. Disney+ has the premiere of The Book of Boba Fett on December 29, its newest Star Wars series that is sort of taking the place of The Mandalorian for this season. We'll see if it can capture the zeitgeist the way The Mandalorian has. Netflix has the return of Cobra Kai on New Year's Eve for its fourth season. The Emmy nominated comedy has already been renewed for a fifth season.
The Week of Jan 3:
The first week in January has many broadcast premieres. On Monday, January 3, FOX has the return of 9-1-1: Lone Star and the series premiere of new drama The Cleaning Lady, which seems like an unfortunate title. Tuesday, January 4 has the final season premieres of two long running, critically acclaimed hits: This is Us on NBC and Black-ish on ABC. It is also the time period premieres for new sitcoms Abbott Elementary on ABC and American Auto/Grand Crew on NBC. Wednesday, January 5 has the series premiere of CBS's new medical drama Good Sam starring Sophia Bush competing against her former show, Chicago PD in the same timeslot. And Thursday, January 6 has the premiere of ABC's six hour limited series Women of the Movement, which hasn't gotten much promotion yet.
My pick for the next couple weeks:
I will go with This is Us as I am excited to see how the story ends. I though Season Five was up and down but it's still a very strong drama. I am also a fan of Black-ish and look forward to seeing its ending too. I was mixed on Emily in Paris but will probably watch Season Two and I'll probably check out most of the broadcast stuff at some point and maybe 1883 though I don't watch Yellowstone.
Check back January 3 for a new week of blog posts!
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