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THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 3/18/22

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

#1 - CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS
The Critics' Choice Awards were held on Sunday after the Omicron variant delayed a planned January date. As we march towards Emmy season, there were some expected winners and a few surprises. To no one's surprise, top honors went to Succession and Ted Lasso while other non-surprising winners were Kate Winslet and Mare of Easttown and a comedy acting quartet of Jason Sudeikis, Jean Smart, Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham. Just as with the SAG Awards, Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game triumphed over Succession's Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox who may be victims of some vote splitting. Melanie Lynskey of Yellowjackets pulled off a big win in the Drama Lead Actress category while The White Lotus went two for two in the Supporting categories for Limited Series with Murray Bartlett and Jennifer Coolidge winning. This might bode well as Mare of Easttown gets out of the mix soon since it was part of the last Emmy season.

#2 - "ABBOTT ELEMENTARY" RENEWED
ABC's freshman comedy hit Abbott Elementary has been renewed for a second season. The renewal was never in doubt as the series has gotten a lot of attention and pretty decent ratings for 2022 ABC standards. The series could be the first broadcast comedy in awhile to get in the mix in the Emmys. It still may be a tall order for the series to get in while star/creator Quinta Brunson seems more likely to get recognized for one of her many titles. This is the first ABC comedy to get a renewal but several more seem likely to join including The Goldbergs, The Conners and The Wonder Years. Home Economics is a little more shaky.

#3 - "NEW AMSTERDAM" ENDING WITH SEASON 5
NBC announced this week that the medical drama New Amsterdam will end with next season's already announced fifth season. NBC made a surprising move back in January 2020 when it renewed the series, then midway through its second season, for three additional seasons. It then was one of the last broadcast shows to return in staggered COVID-fueled premieres and now it will end with a 13 episode final season. It's probably time as the show looked like it had a chance to be a player but never quite figured it out.

#4 - "THE COURTSHIP" BENCHED TO USA
It is pretty tough for a show to get pulled from the schedule these days because ratings are so low and linear ratings, especially overnight ones, are only a piece of the puzzle. But it still happens sometimes and that happened this week as the Bridgerton inspired dating series The Courtship has been yanked off the NBC lineup and will finish its run on USA Network. This comes after horribly embarrassing ratings on Sunday nights, basically CW-level numbers.

#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
Here's a look at this week's scripted premieres, another week mostly confined to today and Thursday.

Today: Apple TV+ launches the limited series WeCrashed starring Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto. It's the next in a long line of tech/influencer crime-based series joining The Dropout, Inventing Anna and others. Hulu has the series premiere of Life & Beth, a comedy starring Amy Schumer in her first more traditional TV role after her award winning Inside Amy Schumer. Netflix drops the animated sitcom Human Resources, a spinoff of their popular Big Mouth.

Thursday: Paramount+ premieres Halo, a series that felt like it might never make it to the airwaves. The series, based on the popular video game franchise, was originally developed for a 2015 launch. Since then, it has had multiple showrunners and platforms attached as it was originally set for Showtime. After all that development, it has already secured a second season with yet another new showrunner. FX premieres the third season of Atlanta, last seen way, way back in May 2018. Its third season was delayed for COVID and other reasons but the fourth (and final) season has already been filmed and could arrive as soon as this fall.

My pick for the week:
I am going to tentatively go with Atlanta even though it's a show that slipped through the cracks for me and one I've never watched. Considering how beloved it is critically and I usually (although not always) agree with critical consensus on the show, I think I will like it. I plan to watch the first two seasons before the third though. I might also check out WeCrashed although I'm getting a little tired of shows like that.

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