Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
For years, this week was known as "Hell Week" with tons of cancellations, renewals and series pickups ahead of Upfronts week. It's not as crazy as it once was but there was still quite a bloodbath on Thursday led by a network not used to participating in Bloody Thursday rituals: The CW. The network, which is in transition as it heads towards being sold, cancelled 4400, Charmed, Dynasty, In the Dark, Legacies, Naomi and Roswell, New Mexico after already cancelling Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman. The CW used to almost always let shows end gracefully but this is a new era and the network is definitely slimming down its library. The CW wasn't the only network on a cancellation spree though. CBS cancelled United States of Al, B Positive, Good Sam, How We Roll and Magnum P.I. Most surprising from that list is Magnum, which has found a nice little audience for itself on Friday nights after originally being a Monday disappointment. It also just finished its fourth season and seemed headed to a long run for the syndication factory (which is admittedly much less of a thing than it used to be). NBC also had cancellations of their own, axing The Endgame, Kenan and Mr. Mayor. None of them were super surprising aside from the auspices of Kenan Thompson on Kenan and Ted Danson on Mr. Mayor. Earlier in the week, ABC cancelled freshmen dramas Queens and Promised Land. There may be some more cancellations coming over the weekend and into next week but we're not likely to get another day as brutal as Thursday.
With the inevitable bloodbath also comes good news for some returning series and new series. Renewals this week included the FBI shows on CBS for two more seasons. NBC renewed Law & Order, Law & Order: Organized Crime, American Auto, Grand Crew and Young Rock while the CW renewed All American: Homecoming. Non-broadcast renewals were Upload on Amazon and Awkwafina is Nora from Queens on Comedy Central. I'm most excited about American Auto, which was growing into a strong ensemble comedy during its first season. There were also series orders although not nearly as much as in the past. The networks are primarily thinking of their fall schedules while midseason pickups will likely come later as they move to more of a year round model. NBC picked up the comedy Lopez vs. Lopez while CBS picked up dramas Fire Country, East New York and So Help Me Todd. CBS will reportedly not pick up any of its comedy pilots, which would be a very unusual move for the network. The CW picked up all three of its pilots in contention and they all have ties to other current or former CW shows as Gotham Knights, The Winchesters and Walker: Independence were picked up to series. We'll still get a few more but we're not in the days of networks picking up 10-15 shows in a short span in May.
Whenever he ends his playing career, Tom Brady will be joining FOX as their color commentator in an insane reported $375 million, ten year deal. Considering that Brady has made just over $300 million in 20+ years of playing football, that number is astronomical and easily dwarfs Tony Romo's recent contract extension with CBS that seemed massive at the time. Of course Brady is a huge get for the network but it's hard to even know if he'll be any good as a commentator. Greatness on the field doesn't always translate to greatness in the broadcast booth. I guess time will tell. Of course this also means that Brady has to retire from playing at some point which won't be happening this year as he quickly reversed his retirement plans from a couple months ago to re-join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The NFL also released its schedule on Thursday night in a completely overhyped day and special but there are lots of marquee matchups for the 2022 season.
#4 - TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS
The Tony Award nominations were announced this week ahead of the June 12 ceremony, which will air on Paramount+ and CBS and be hosted by recent Oscar winner and former Broadway star Ariana DeBose. As Broadway came back to life following the long shutdown, this season may be lower in numbers of eligible shows but it still has some feeling of normalcy. Leading the pack for nominations was new musical A Strange Loop with 11 nominations. It is the favorite to win Best Musical. Other leaders were MJ and Paradise Square with 10 nominations and the play The Lehmen Trilogy with 8 nominations. The highest profile snubbing was Katrina Lenk for Company, Daniel Craig for MacBeth and a near complete shutout for the revival of Funny Girl led by Beanie Feldstein, which earned just one nomination. I'm a big theater fan too in addition to TV so I'm excited to see how these awards play out!
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
Here's a look at this week's scripted premieres!
Today: Netflix has the premiere of The Lincoln Lawyer. The David E. Kelley legal drama based on the movie (and originally a book called "The Brass Verdict") was originally developed for CBS. The series had planned to film for pilot consideration in Spring 2020 before the pandemic shut everything down. CBS decided to not proceed with the series but it was saved by Netflix several months later. Elsewhere, Apple TV+ premieres The Essex Serpent, a fantasy thriller based on the novel of the same name and starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston. It doesn't feel like either of these shows have gotten a lot of traction ahead of their premiere.
Sunday: HBO premieres The Time Traveler's Wife, based on the novel and film of the same name (seems like a trend this week). This version stars Rose Leslie and Theo James. Hulu premieres Conversations With Friends, a follow-up of sorts to their acclaimed limited series Normal People as it is based on a different book in the same series by the same author.
Thursday: Peacock debuts Angelyne, a limited series based on the well-known (at least at one point) model and entertainer. This stars Emmy Rossum and is the next Peacock play to get in the conversation.
My pick for the week:
There's nothing super exciting to me this week so I'll go with The Time Traveler's Wife, which has the most interesting subject matter to me even though reviews have been bad. I might check out The Lincoln Lawyer but I also could see myself not getting to it. I never watched Normal People so we'll see about Conversations with Friends. I don't really have any interest in The Essex Serpent or Angelyne.
Check back next week for a new week of blog posts!
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