Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
It's the end of an era at The CW. Mark Pedowitz has departed after an impressive 11 years with the network, an eternity for network presidents. Pedowitz took over a flailing network that was still figuring out its identity in the years since it took over for The WB and UPN. Although it never became a huge player in terms of ratings, Pedowitz shepherded the network to developing a very strong identity and buzzy shows including critical darlings Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the DC Universe array of series led by Arrow and The Flash and continued nurturing of its flagship show, Supernatural. Many shows including those mentioned plus shows like Riverdale and All American benefited greatly from an arrangement to air complete seasons on Netflix after they were done on The CW. Pedowitz was also well liked thanks to his willingness to show up for events and be interviewed. But he became expendable as Nextar takes over The CW and will morph into something different that may resemble something more like WGN of a few years ago. As for Pedowitz, he will return to his producing roots and should have lots of good connections.
It was a pretty big week for departures of people who had been with their company for a long time. On Thursday, it was announced that David Nevins, who has been with Showtime about as long as Pedowitz has been with The CW, would depart the premium cable channel as well as his larger position with Paramount Global. While Showtime has had ups and downs, Nevins has overseen the development and success of shows like Homeland, Yellowjackets, Ray Donovan and the Twin Peaks revival while also shepherding much of the long running Shameless. In recent years, he has helped oversee the development of Paramount+ since the 2019 Viacom-CBS merger. He was another well-liked executive whose departure signals the ever changing landscape.
It's been in development for forever but now its official. Frasier will return as the sequel to the 2003-04 hit has been picked up to series by Paramount+. Kelsey Grammer is of course returning but it remains to be seen whether David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin will be back (fellow cast member John Mahoney passed away in 2018). I can't imagine the remaining living trio won't be back in some capacity. I know Pierce has been coy but that has to be a negotiating tactic. You can't have Frasier without Niles. No word on when this will begin filming or when it will air.
#4 - FALL TV NEW SHOW UPDATE
It's been a very quiet fall for the broadcast networks so there really isn't much to talk about for ratings or new shows. But it was a quiet week so here goes. East New York premiered to decent numbers on CBS thanks to a halo effect from the NFL overrun. The Rookie: Feds is pretty unimpressive on Tuesday nights for ABC and ditto for So Help Me Todd on CBS Thursdays. Quantum Leap is hanging on for NBC and The Real Love Boat fell on its face on Wednesday nights on CBS. As of this post being published, we are waiting to see how things turned out for ABC's Alaska Daily and The CW's Walker Independence. The biggest facepalm for a new show though is Monarch on FOX which is awfully close to a pitiful 0.1 demo. There's no way FOX can stick with this show long term even in an era where ratings don't matter as much.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
The Fall Premieres are slowing down a bit but there's still plenty coming in the next week!
Today: Netflix has horror master Mike Flanagan's latest October entry with limited series The Midnight Club. After the success of The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor and last year's Midnight Mass, he has carved out a territory every October for some thrills on the streamer. CBS premieres its Friday night lineup including Season 6 of S.W.A.T., Season 13 (!) of Blue Bloods and the premiere of Fire Country. It seems like a fit on the Friday lineup but do we need another broadcast fire/EMT procedural to join Chicago Fire and the 9-1-1 pair?
Sunday: CBS has the 14th season premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles, which doesn't seem like it has a lot left in the tank. Showtime has the premiere of vampire drama Let the Right One In, one of several vampire shows hitting the airwaves this fall.
Monday: The CW has the return of All American for its fifth season and its spinoff, All American: Homecoming for a second season. HBO has the return of space comedy Avenue 5, which finished its first season way back on the cusp of COVID in March 2020. Its another one of those few ongoing shows left to have not premiered a new season during the pandemic. Its widely believed this will be a two and done show.
Tuesday: The CW returns to the Supernatural-verse with the prequel series The Winchesters. Despite Supernatural being one of CW's flagship shows for well over a decade, they were never able to spin it off with two high profile failures. We'll see if any of the Supernatural audience comes back. BET has the fourth season premiere of The Oval.
Wednesday: Disney+ has the second season premiere of Big Shot, another series that seemed to cause some internal division when it was renewed. BET has the fifth season premiere of Sistas, just a couple months after the fourth season ended.
Thursday: Netflix premieres Ryan Murphy's limited series The Watcher, coming just a few weeks after Murphy's Dahmer. This one is another creepy thriller boasting an all-star cast including Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Mia Farrow, Margo Martindale, Richard Kind and recent Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge. Can it escape the critical drubbing so many Murphy Netflix shows have gotten?
My pick for the week:
A lot is premiering but it's another week where I don't have a ton on my list. I will check out The Midnight Club and The Watcher with some trepidation for each as I'm awfully mixed on both Mike Flanagan and especially Ryan Murphy. Blue Bloods is a drama I have always enjoyed so I'll keep watching that. That's about it.
Check back next week for a new week of blog posts!
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