Don’t say I never give you any good news.
(I mean, really, please don’t say that.)
Here’s something very good: CBS has just changed its schedule for Monday (May 20), to insert a rerun of Thursday’s “Big Bang Theory” finale, from 8-9 p.m. Read more…
This isn’t what you’d expect – George Clooney and “Catch-22” as key pieces for a mega-corporation.
But that’s how things unfolded. Consider:
— On Tuesday (May 14), the deal was announced: Disney, which owns ABC, gets full control of the Hulu streaming service; in 2024, it could buy the portion owned by Comcast (NBC’s owner) for $27.5 billion. That follows a trend, with Disney buying its way (Pixar, Marvel, “Star Wars”) to the top.
— And just three days later (today, May 17), Hulu launched one of its biggest shows, Clooney’s “Catch-22” mini-series. Read more…
This is TV’s version of “pay it forward.”
A few producer-directors passed their skills along, nurturing young actors who wanted to direct.
We’re reminded of that again with the excellent “Red Line” finale (shown here, with Emayatzy Corinealdi, Aliyah Royale and Noah Wyle), from 8-10 p.m. Sunday (May 19) on CBS. But first, prime examples are: Read more…
1) “Game of Thrones” finale, 9-10:20 p.m., HBO, rerunning at 11:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. This has been epic television, complete with angry dragons, naked people and toppling empires. It’s managed to mix spectacle, character drama and political intrigue. Now it concludes after 73 episodes over eight seasons. Read more…
1) “The Voice” finale, 9-11 p.m. today and Tuesday, NBC. For a while, Blake Shelton’s dominance was slipping. In 13 editions, he had six champions and seven runners-up; then Kelly Clarkson won two straight. Not to worry; Shelton now has three of the four finalists — Gythy Rigdon, Dexter Roberts and Andrew Sevener; John Legend has the fourth, Maelyn Jarmon. (She’s shown here with, from left, Sevener, Rigdon and Roberts.) Tonight, each does three songs; on Tuesday, one will be the winner. Read more…
The rise of female superheroes will get another boost this fall:
Now Batwoman and Supergirl will be back-to-back on Sundays, TV’s strongest night.
“Batwoman,” a spin-off of the just-ended “Gotham,” is one of only two new shows this fall on the CW mini-network. The other is “Nancy Drew,” about a teen crimesolver. A third one, “Katy Keene,” will wait until mid-season, along with four returning shows. Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live” season-finale, 11:29 p.m., NBC. For a time, “Avengers: Endgame” seemed to be the only movie in existence. In its first weekend, its U.S. box office was eight times as big as EVERY other movie – all 111 of them – combined. After the third weekend, it had totaled $734 million in the U.S. and $2.5 billion worldwide. Wisely, “SNL” has an “Endgame” star (Paul Rudd, shown here, who plays Ant-Man) host; he’s done it three previous times. DJ Khaled is the music guest. Read more…
On the day before “Big Bang” says farewell, CBS has unveiled its lineup for next season.
It will try to retain is comedy dominance on Thursdays, with “Young Sheldon” (shown here in Thursday’s season-finale) and “Mom” at 8 and 9 p.m. Those will surround two new comedies: Walton Goggins plays a recent widower in “The Unicorn”; Patricia Heaton — already with two hits in “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Middle” — tries for her third act with “Carol’s Second Act.” Read more…
1) “Catch-22,” any time, Hulu. After being a bombardier in World War II, Joseph Heller began his great war novel. Fortunately, he wrote it slowly; when it finally came out in 1961, it fit the emerging ’60s, Vietnam-influenced era. The first hour of this six-part series captures the book’s mix of horror and humor. Alongside the gore, there are hilarious diatribes by officers (George Clooney, shown here, who produced this, and Kyle Chandler). And the scene explaining the title ranks with the classic “Who’s on first?” Read more…
It’s easy to get lost inside the sprawling Disney empire.
Today (May 14), many of Disney’s cable networks announced their plans for next season. There was big news – which would have seemed bigger, except it was at the same time as the fall-schedule news from Disney-owned ABC … and the news that Disney is buying full control of Hulu. Once you get past that, key news included:
— “The Simpsons” will have a three-network home – Fox and FX and now Freeform. FX’s John Landgraf said he had a nine-year deal with the show; after using it for five years to propel the FXX channel, he was ready for a sub-lease. Read more…
