Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories this week!
The adventures of the Roy family will come to an end sooner than most fans wanted. Jesse Armstrong, creator of HBO's award winning drama Succession, announced that the upcoming fourth season (debuting March 26) will be the last for the series. Although Armstrong and the cast have consistently said that they didn't see the show lasting for years and years, most assumed the show would go at least one more season beyond the upcoming fourth season but that won't happen. The series, which won Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys in 2020 and 2022, seems likely to be another frontrunner for the Emmys this year despite competition from HBO's own The White Lotus, The Last of Us and House of the Dragon among other dramas like AMC's Better Call Saul, Netflix's The Crown and Showtime's Yellowjackets. I will be sad to see the Roy story come to an end, but I'd rather have a shown leave too soon than stay too long. Speaking of...
The Succession news overshadowed another final season announcement on Thursday as ABC announced that The Goldbergs will end with its current tenth season. The 80s-set family comedy will end its run on May 3. The series debuted in 2013 and had a slow start in the ratings and creatively before finding its stride in its second season when it moved to Wednesdays. It was a stalwart on the night for years and even spawned a short-lived sequel, Schooled. In recent years, The Goldbergs has had to deal with the death of cast member George Segal followed by the firing of Jeff Garlin, who played the family patriarch. This has all come as the ratings have continued to decline and the quality has taken a nosedive. The show was once one of my favorites on broadcast TV. I thought the first couple years were the perfect mix of humor and heart. But for years, it's felt like an obligation in the same way the final years of Modern Family felt. It has stuck to a formula and has felt tired for years. It's time for the show to an end, but it did have some really great moments.
CBS announced a bunch of renewals this week including dramas NCIS (for Season 21!), NCIS: Hawaii (for Season 3) and CSI: Vegas (for Season 3) along with stalwart unscripted fare Survivor, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours and The Amazing Race along with newer unscripted entries Lingo and Tough as Nails. These nine shows join a slew of already renewed shows so the most interesting story might be the shows that are not renewed. That list includes S.W.A.T., which is not owned by CBS but seems likely to come back, and East New York, a freshman that seems like it might be on the wrong side of the bubble. Most notably not on the list was Blue Bloods, which is apparently in tough renegotiations as costs have climbed for a drama of its age. I think they'll figure something out for Blue Bloods but my guess is 2023-24 will be the final season for the family cop drama.
#4 - EMMY CATEGORY UPDATES
With just a couple months left of Emmy eligibility, there were a couple Emmy category updates this week. The White Lotus will move from the Limited Series area to Drama for Season Two. After dominating the Limited Series category last year, it will have to switch due to the ongoing story for Jennifer Coolidge's character (and perhaps others in future seasons). It will be going from a seemingly light limited series field to a crowded drama field as mentioned above so it will be interesting to see how the well received second season will fare. Elsewhere, Peacock's breakout Poker Face will submit as a comedy despite the longer running time. This seems fine considering shows like Monk used to be considered comedies back in the day and it's much less egregious than The Bear competing as a comedy.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
Here's a look at this week's scripted premieres!
Today: Amazon has the premiere of the new workplace show The Consultant that seems to be going after the Severance audience. Starring Christoph Waltz, it has gotten some pre-release buzz but we'll see if it can get any traction now that it's released. Starz has the premiere of the revival of Party Down. The original series aired from 2009-2010 and was a cult favorite. Response to the revival, which has most of the original cast, has been equally strong but critical love was never Party Down's problem. We'll see if more people have found the show in the decade plus since it ended.
Sunday: NBC has the tenth and final season premiere of The Blacklist. The James Spader drama will finally come to an end after being a mostly forgotten show in recent years after being a buzzy hit show early on.
Wednesday: Disney+ has the third season premiere of The Mandalorian. The flagship show for the streamer was last seen in December 2020 though several Star Wars shows have aired since to mixed results.
Thursday: Netflix has the second season premiere of Sex/Life. The racy drama was a bit of a surprise renewal since it didn't seem to cut through.
My pick for the week:
I'm torn between The Consultant and Party Down. I've been mildly intrigued by The Consultant but the trailer didn't seem great to me. I never watched the original Party Down but I think I would like it so I may check out the original followed by this revival.
Check back next week for a new week of blog posts!
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