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THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 2/3/23

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

#1 - PARAMOUNT+ AND SHOWTIME MERGING
The long rumored merge happened this week as Paramount+ and longtime premium channel Showtime will be merging into one service later this year. There will still be a linear Showtime network but it will all be under the umbrella "Paramount+ with Showtime." This has been expected since CBS All Access became Paramount+ in June 2021 and it gives Paramount+ a place for prestige shows including the current hit Yellowjackets. With the merger coming soon, there has started to be the shedding of some shows from the streaming service - a trend that streamers have been employing since HBO Max started the practice late last year. That includes Let the Right One In and American Gigolo, which were both cancelled this week at Showtime. No specific dates have been announced but it will be interesting to see what the strategy is going forward and it's potentially a sign of more streaming services considering mergers.

#2 - "KING OF THE HILL" REVIVAL COMING TO HULU
A long gestating revival is officially returning. Hulu will bring back the former FOX animated comedy King of the Hill for a revival series that will take place in the present day. Original voice cast Mike Judge, Pamela Adlon and Kathy Najimy are all returning along with others. The original series ran on FOX from 1997-2009 and was cancelled back in an era when FOX's animated lineup was contracting instead of expanding. The series has remained popular in reruns on Hulu and it seems surprising it has taken this long to actually get this revival going.

#3 - "DR. PHIL" AND "THE BLACKLIST" COMING TO AN END
Two long running shows announced their endings this week. Daytime staple Dr. Phil will end its run after 21 years. The Oprah offshoot has seen its star lose some popularity in recent years in ratings and in the court of public opinion. Also, NBC's long running drama The Blacklist will come to an end after 10 seasons with its upcoming season, premiering in a few weeks. The James Spader drama was a big hit out of the gate in 2013 but has limped along in recent seasons. Also cancelled this week were Kindred and Reboot on Hulu, The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+ and Pennyworth on HBO Max along with the aforementioned Showtime shows.

#4 - RENEWALS OF THE WEEK
Along with the cancellations, many shows got good news this week. An obvious renewal was The Last of Us on HBO after its very buzzy beginning. There were also several broadcast renewals with La Brea (for season three) and surprise hit Night Court (for season two) on NBC, The Cleaning Lady for season three on FOX and So Help Me Todd for season two on CBS. Also getting renewals were Power Book II for a fourth season on Starz ahead of its third season, and The Terminal List for a second season on Amazon.

#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
Here's a look at this week's scripted premieres!

Today: Apple TV+ has the premiere of the Jason Katims drama Dear Edward. The heart-tugging series reunites Katims with Connie Britton and also stars Taylor Schilling. Amazon has the second season premiere of Harlem. The series debuted to decent reviews but little fanfare back in December 2021.

Wednesday: It's a busy night for Broadcast TV. ABC has the series premiere of Not Dead Yet, a comedy starring Gina Rodriguez. It airs after Abbott Elementary but that didn't really help its timeslot predecessor, Home Economics. After Not Dead Yet, ABC has the fifth and final season premiere of A Million Little Things, which has had a decent run for itself. Speaking of final season premieres, The CW has the ninth and final season premiere of The Flash. The series was once the cornerstone of the DC dominance on The CW but things have changed quite a bit for that network. Finally, Comedy Central has the 26th (!) season premiere of South Park.

Thursday: Netflix has the fourth season premiere of You. The onetime Lifetime drama will drop five episodes next week followed by the other five a month later, the closest thing Netflix has to weekly releases. You has never been a critical hit but has consistently been a strong performer for the streamer since it was rescued from cable.

My pick for the week:
The only one that interests me is Dear Edward, but it interests me quite a bit, considering it came in at #1 on my Most Anticipated New Shows of 2023. I have loved *almost* everything Jason Katims did and putting Connie Britton back in one of his shows has me extra excited. Among other shows, I might check out Not Dead Yet but that's it.
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