Day: December 13, 2023

Post-strike, CW sticks with lower-budget plan

When the big networks return to full-budget, scripted shows, the CW will stand fast.
It will have the same sort of shows it (and others) settled for during the strikes. There will be lots a non-fiction, plus Canadian shows (including “Children Ruin Everything,” shown here) and a movie night.
For years, the CW had youthful shows — often high-octane, superhero ones. But 15 months ago, it got a new owner with plans to lower the costs; then the strikes saw all the networks trying that. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 15: Christmas tree, parade, movie

1) “National Christmas Tree Lighting,” 8 p.m., CBS. We don’t think of President Calvin Coolidge as a festive guy, but in 1923 he presided over the first lighting of the national tree. A century later, that’s a TV-ready celebration. Mickey Guyton (shown here) hosts and sings, with Dionne Warwick, Joe Walsh, Ledisi, Darren Criss, St. Vincent, Renee Rapp and Samara Joy. Read more…

British custom — Christmas Day TV — reaches U.S.

A British custom – TV episodes planned for Christmas Day – is making modest inroads in the U.S.
The big one this year is a “Doctor Who,” introducing a new Doctor and his companion (the stgars are shown here). It marks the show’s move to Disney+.
In addition, however, there are two others arriving exactly on Dec. 25 (PBS’ “Call the Midwife” and Acorn’s “Madame Blanc Mysteries”), two that come a day earlier (Britbox’s “Lot 249” ghost story and its “Beyond Paradise”) and some others from earlier in the month. Read more…