Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories this week! Also a reminder that this blog will be taking a two week break after this week with posts resuming April 4!
The Oscars were held on Sunday night and plenty has already been written about the telecast. A year after the infamous slap incident, the Oscars played it safe. The ceremony felt like a throwback to older Oscars ceremony with a very classic look, a safe but funny monologue from host Jimmy Kimmel and purposeful attention to not causing waves. It all felt pretty classy except for the shameless studio plugs (a trailer during the actual ceremony??). Among winners, it was Everything Everywhere All at Once that dominated with all major awards except for Lead Actor (which it was not up for and went to Brendan Fraser for The Whale). In terms of ratings, the telecast was up 12% from last year to 18.7 million viewers. That's a far cry from the ratings it used to get, even less than ten years ago. But it is the second straight year the ratings have risen. I don't follow movies nearly as much as TV but it always feels like the Oscars are so predictable in terms of winners. I thought the set design was really nice even though the whole affair felt a little boring.
After months in limbo, it was reported this week that Amazon Prime Video has renewed A League of Their Own for a four episode second and final season. While not confirmed by Amazon, this feels like the absolute littlest they can do without cancelling the series. On one hand, you can see Amazon's view. Despite what creator Will Graham says, it obviously did not get the ratings that could justify its cost. On the other hand, this felt like a show that a giant company like Amazon could afford to nurture and give a full second season to. This show was really charming in its first season with great production values and a distinct viewpoint. I hope it gets the chance to have more than a four episode second season.
Nearly 15 years after it left the airwaves, Monk is returning in the form of a TV movie for Peacock. Titled Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie, it will boast the return of Tony Shalhoub and many other original cast members including Traylor Howard, Ted Levine and Hector Elizondo. The original Monk was an Emmy nominated series that ushered in the famed "blue sky" era for USA. It was also one of the first major dramedies that populate so much of the TV landscape these days. I really love the original series so I'm curious to see how a new story with the same characters will play so much later.
#4 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
With the blog heading on a break, I am splitting the next couple weeks into two stories. Here's a look at this week.
Today: We see the premieres of three shows. Apple TV+ premieres Extrapolations, a sweeping anthology series about climate change that features some major stars in guest roles. It hasn't gotten a lot of buzz for its huge roster of names. Prime Video has the premiere of horror thriller Swarm from Donald Glover. This limited series, about fame, stardom and obsession could be a dark horse to make some noise. Finally, Starz has the third season premiere of Power Book II: Ghost.
Sunday: AMC re-teams with Bob Odenkirk on Sunday night and his new series Lucky Hank, which seems very similar to Netflix's The Chair but Odenkirk is always a draw.
Thursday: Netflix premieres action thriller The Night Agent from Shawn Ryan, which seems to be pretty standard thriller fare.
Next Friday: Hulu premieres the Mae Whitman musical series Up Here. I'm not quite sure what type of show this is going to be but it has an interesting premise.
My pick for the next week: I'll go with Lucky Hank. Despite the recent The Chair, there aren't that many shows set in the academic collegiate environment plus Odenkirk is a pro who I think can make anything he's in stronger. I'm curious about Up Here but a little more unsure of what type of show it might be. I might check out Extrapolations, but it doesn't interest me much.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES IN THE COMING WEEKS
Here's a look at more premieres during the break!
The Week of March 26: Sunday, March 26 is a very busy day for premieres. The much heralded fourth and final season of Succession premieres on HBO while the second season of buzzy drama Yellowjackets premieres on Showtime (it will stream on the Showtime app two days earlier). Those are two of the big Emmy contenders arriving as the Emmy window begins to close. That's not it though. Paramount+ has the premiere of the new Kiefer Sutherland action drama Rabbit Hole, which seems to be Sutherland doing his thing in something that's definitely intended to appeal to Taylor Sheridan fans. Hulu has the premiere of epic period drama Great Expectations while Hallmark does its own best Taylor Sheridan impression with the western drama Ride starring Nancy Travis. Finally, FOX begins the second season of animated comedy HouseBroken. On Monday, TBS has the 18th (!) season premiere of American Dad! On Wednesday, March 29, The CW premieres the final season of Riverdale while Apple TV+ has the premiere of Chris O'Dowd dramedy The Big Door Prize. The next day, Netflix drops Unstable, a comedy starring Rob Lowe and his son, John Owen Lowe. Finally to round out the week, Disney+ has the second season premiere of Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.
The Week of April 2: On Wednesday, April 5, Apple TV+ has the second season premiere of Schmigadoon! now nicknamed Schmicago. The first season was a delight but didn't seem to really break through. Disney+ has the premiere of basketball drama The Crossover. Finally, FXX has the third season premiere of Dave. The next day has the premiere of the prequel series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies on Paramount+. The reaction to that one has been pretty mixed since the trailer came out. Netflix has the premiere of dramedy Beef, which has gotten some pre-premiere buzz.
My pick for the next couple weeks:
Since there's two weeks, I am picking two: Succession and Schmigadoon! I can't wait to see how Succession ends and I have high hopes for a great final season while I just loved the first season of Schmigadoon and look forward to seeing what they have up their sleeve for a totally different second season. I was also a fan of Yellowjackets but I'm a little leery of a second season for a buzzy show like The next tier for me would be Beef, The Big Door Prize and Grease: Rise of the Pin Ladies - all those might depend on time and reviews.
Check back April 4 for a new week of blog posts!
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