Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!
In a surprise announcement on Thursday, the comedy Girls5Eva, which aired its first two seasons on Peacock, has been renewed for a third season and will move to Netflix. The series premiered in May 2021 and was praised by many critics. There was some speculation that it might be a sleeper Emmys contender in 2021 but that didn't come to pass as Peacock just hasn't been able to get eyeballs for its originals. The second season premiered about a year later and seemed to get even more lost in the shuffle. It looked like Peacock was ready to cancel the show despite its vocal, but small, audience. But Netflix, which previously rescued another NBC show from Tina Fey in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, came through and will give the series a third season. It feels like this show, which stars Sara Bareilles, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Busy Phillips and Paula Pell could definitely break out on a streamer that gets many more attention for its originals. Time will tell. I loved the first season and nominated it for Outstanding Comedy Series at my 2021 Benjamonster Awards. I thought the second season was alright but not as strong. It does have the best theme song currently on TV though.
Speaking of rescued shows, Chad was rescued by Roku for its second season, which was already in the can. The series premiered in April 2021 on TBS and was given two different premiere dates for a second season that were pulled suddenly as TBS got mostly out of the original scripted business. The Nasim Pedrad vehicle will now be a Roku original, which also saved some Quibi originals and aired a closing movie for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist after its cancellation. I'm happy the second season of Chad will see the light of day. I thought the first season had some very funny moments and a really strong performance by Pedrad.
For the first time in its history, Apple TV+ will raise its monthly price. The streamer debuted in November 2019 at $4.99 a month and has held steady at that price ever since. But it will now go to $6.99 a month. That's still pretty low as far as streamers go and three years at one price is not bad. But the problem Apple TV+ has is that it has tremendous content but not a lot of it. With no real library, it's easy to dip in and out of a subscription for the streamer. It might be my favorite streamer as far as originals and yet I only subscribe about half a year each year at best because I watch what I want and then wait for new ones to pile up. With no library of older shows I like or haven't seen, it's easy to do that.
#4 - RENEWALS & CANCELLATIONS
There were several renewals and cancellations this week. HBO renewed Industry for a third season while Netflix did the same for The Upshaws. Industry received some buzz for its second season this summer while The Upshaws has seemingly done better for Netflix than many of its low wattage broadcast-style comedies. Cancellations included City on a Hill after three seasons on Showtime as well as a final season announcement for Nancy Drew on the CW, which should come as no surprise with The CW continuing to cut down on its originals.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
There's not much premiering this week but two things I'm excited for!
Today: Netflix has the sixth season premiere of Big Mouth. The animated sitcom has quietly become one of Netflix's longest running shows and a seventh season has already been ordered.
Sunday: HBO has the second season premiere of The White Lotus. This one will be dubbed The White Lotus: Sicily and takes place at a different resort than the acclaimed first season that debuted in the Summer of 2021 and topped the Emmys with ten wins last month. With an entirely new cast, except for Jennifer Coolidge, it will be interesting to see if lightning can strike twice for this show.
Thursday: Netflix has the premiere of the comedy Blockbuster starring Randall Park and Melissa Fumero. And yes, everyone realizes the irony of Netflix doing a comedy about a company it basically put out of business. HBO Max has the fourth season premiere of Titans. This is its second season on HBO Max after originating on DC Universe.
My pick for the week:
I mean, it has to be The White Lotus. The first season was my favorite thing I watched in 2021 and I'm very excited, though a bit apprehensive, for the second season. I hope it can capture the same unique vibe and style of the first season while being at a different locale. I'm very excited for it to be back. I am also excited for Blockbuster, which seems like it could develop into a solid workplace comedy.
Check back next week for a new week of blog posts!
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