Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
In the not very distant past, early May was when we would get day after day of furious upfront news from the broadcast networks. And we do still have the Upfronts coming up but the news is more of a trickle with broadcast networks less relevant in the overall TV landscape and picking up less shows at this time of year as they produce less content overall and shift to more of a year-round mindset. But we do have fall schedules coming soon and NBC made the first official order of the month formerly known as "Upfronts Month" with the pick-up of the Quantum Leap reboot. Based on the cult hit that ran from 1989-1993 on NBC and starred Scott Bakula, the new version follows a similar plot and stars Raymond Lee. Bakula is not involved. So NBC has two new series orders for 2022-23 so far and they are both reboots of 1980s shows as Quantum Leap joins Night Court.
While not as many as this time of year in the past, we have started to get some cancellations as well. The most high profile cancellations came a week ago today when the CW cancelled Legends of Tomorrow after seven seasons and Batwoman after three seasons. These are somewhat surprising moves because the CW used to always let shows have "final seasons" if they ran more than a season or two. So it's especially surprising that Legends was not given a chance to have a proper wrap-up. But with the impending sale of the CW, things are different now and they are not going to be as generous with their renewals. Elsewhere, Netflix cancelled Space Force after two seasons. The Steve Carell/Greg Daniels sitcom was highly anticipated when it premiered in May 2020 but the reviews and audience reaction were bad. A retooled second season premiered in February but it appeared many had given up after Season One as there was very little buzz. Finally, Peacock cancelled Saved by the Bell after two seasons despite a decent amount of critical acclaim. Look for more cancellations this coming week as the broadcast networks start making moves.
There was also a handful of renewals this week. Most notable was The Equalizer, which got a two season renewal from CBS after another solid season on Sundays at 8pm. HBO Max has renewed Julia and Minx for second seasons. Both shows have some critical love and some audience support but neither one seems to be a breakout hit for the streamer. Sweet Magnolias was renewed for a third season on Netflix. It will never be an awards player but seems to hit the same demographic that other Netflix hits like Virgin River do. Bosch: Legacy was renewed by Freevee (formerly IMDB TV) before its premiere today and The Freak Brothers was renewed by Tubi for a second season.
#4 - DAYTIME EMMY NOMINATIONS
The Daytime Emmys are not all that interesting anymore compared to their heyday when soap operas were all the rage but nominations were announced this week. Leading the pack were veteran soaps The Young and the Restless with 18 nominations and General Hospital with 17 nominations. Other notable takeaways were The Ellen DeGeneres Show not getting nominated for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show for its final season, Peacock breaking into the pack with Beyond Salem and Jeopardy! still getting nominated for Outstanding Game Show after its turbulent year. Pat Sajak was nominated twice for Outstanding Game Show Host. One for Wheel of Fortune (of course) and oddly, one for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which aired in primetime.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
Here's a look at this week's scripted premieres!
Today: Newly minted Freevee (formerly IMDB TV) has the premiere of Bosch: Legacy, a sequel of sorts to the Amazon hit that aired from 2014-2021. I say "of sorts" because this really seems more like an eighth season of the former show instead of a new series. Speaking of Amazon, Prime Video has the second season premiere of The Wilds. The first season made a little bit of noise when it premiered in December 2020 but the noise seemed to be short-lived.
Monday: Hulu has the premiere of limited series Candy starring Jessica Biel. The crime drama has an unusual airing pattern as it will release episodes daily for five consecutive days. FX has the third season premiere of Breeders.
Thursday: HBO Max premieres the second season of Hacks. The series, which won Emmy Awards for Jean Smart and Writing last year, is expected to be in the Emmy conversation again with another late release in the eligibility window.
My pick for the week:
This one is easy, it's Hacks. I really enjoyed the first season and am excited to see the second. I watched the first season of The Wilds and liked it, but for some reason I'm not too excited about the second season. I might check out Candy.
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