Is this the beginning of the end of late-night?

by Therese Odell, posted in watch this

A thing I learned about owls once: they are actually very dumb. Possibly the dumbest of our bird friends.

Here’s A BUNCH OF TV News

The New York Times explores the future of late-night television, and … it’s bleak. NBC is reportedly considering moving Late Night with Seth Meyers to Peacock or MSNBC, for instance. Part of the equation is that the viewership has declined between the advent of streaming and the aging of the typical late-night viewer. As a Gen Xer who grew up on David Letterman, who is raising a pair of Gen Zers, I can report from the front lines that the kids aren’t watching these shows. And I myself only watch the opening monologues or Meyers’ “Closer Look” segments, because I don’t give a shit about celebrity interviews, which is the bulk of any late-night show. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, but it sounds like the second hours and the smaller cable shows are in serious trouble.

George R.R. Martin has taken a break from FINISHING THE BOOKS, GEORGE, to blog about House of the Dragons. He notes that some fans are disappointed that certain storylines have been cut short: notably Daemon and Laena’s time together, as well as the Rhaenrya/Harwin relationship. But he explains that some things just have to be cut: shows only get 10 episode seasons now, and there wasn’t time. Additionally, he points out, if they had 13 episodes, “that would have risked having some viewers complain that the show was too ‘slow,’ that ‘nothing happened.'” For real though. I can hear the whining that never happened. Martin says he believes the Dance of the Dragons story can be told in four 10-episode seasons. Let’s hope the showrunners follow this lead and don’t get bored halfway through season two and decide to give us one last 6-episode third season. I’M TALKING TO YOU, BENIOFF AND WEISS. 

The Winchesters was The CW’s most-watched debut this season, which is hardly a surprise.

How does La Brea season two differ from season one? IT DOESN’T. NEXT QUESTION.

Fox News has been on quite the roll this week.

First, that Tucker Carlson interview with Kanye West? Yeah, it turns out they cut a bunch of stuff that didn’t put West in the best light, including a number of antisemitic comments, weird comments about “fake children” being planted in his home, and building cities with free “kinetic energy” from God.

Related: in the wake of West’s other antisemitic statements and tweets, The Shop has pulled an upcoming episode featuring the rapper.

Then, over on Hannity, they published a private voicemail that Biden left for his son Hunter, expressing love and concern for him regarding his addiction issues. I saw tweets showing the screenshot of the message like this one:

But then I found some tweets with the actual audio, and y’all, this literally brought me to tears:

First of all, Hunter Biden’s issues with substance abuse have been well-known for years now, so this isn’t news. But second of all, what is the story here? That Biden loves his son? That he wanted him to get help? I don’t get it. If you told me that the Biden camp were the ones who leaked this to Hannity, I would believe you, but I still don’t understand why Hannity thought this made Biden look bad.

In response, Biden went on Jake Tapper’s show on CNN and said: “First of all, I’m proud of my son. This is a kid who got – not a kid, he’s a grown man – he got hooked on, like many families have had happen, hooked on drugs. He’s overcome that. He’s established a new life,” President Biden began. “I’m confident that what he says and does are consistent with what happens. For example, he wrote a book about it, his problems [“Beautiful Things: A Memoir”]. And he was straightforward about it. I’m proud of him.”

The Crown is about to film Diana’s death in Paris, and everyone is super freaked out about it.

Hey, remember The Nevers?

Dahmer has surpassed Bridgerton to be the second biggest hit at Netflix.

People are starting to cancel streaming services in response to inflation. Also, having so many streaming services is unsustainable. We are at the peak of offerings between cable and streaming and something is going to have to give.

Warner Bros. Discovery just fired a bunch more people. And they are planning on firing even more soon. They have also shut down the Warner Bros Television Workshop which has been running for over 40 years now. The program has been a valuable resource for up-and-coming directors and writers, particularly for diverse talent. In response to these cuts and the direction Warner Bros. Discovery seems to be going in general, Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro has criticized the studio for being outright hostile to new talent and creators of color. (He’s not wrong.)

Please, for everyone’s sake, let’s not reboot Full House again.

Charges against Serial podcast subject Adnan Syed have been fully dropped, and the state will not attempt to prosecute him again.

Get better soon, Brandy!

Good news: Days of Our Lives actor James Lastovic and his roommate have been found safe in Hawaii after having gone missing on a hike.

Renewals

  • The Voice has been renewed for season 23 on NBC.
  • Bunk’d has been renewed for a seventh season on Disney Channel.
  • @Home With Tori has been renewed for a second season on MyTime Movie Network.

Cancellations

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendars

  • The Mosquito Coast returns on Apple TV+ on November 4.

  • The School for Good and Evil will premiere on Netflix on October 19.

  • Spirited will debut on Apple TV+ on November 18.

  • The Capture returns on Peacock on November 3.

  • Drink Masters will premiere on Netflix on October 28.

  • Riches will premiere on Prime Video on December 2.

  • Vatican Girl will debut on Netflix on October 20.

  • CMT Artists of the Year will air on CMT on October 14.

  • The BMF Documentary: Blowing Money Fast will debut on Starz on October 23.

R.I.P.

Angela Lansbury, Legendary film, stage, and TV actress; nominated for three Oscars, eighteen Emmys, and winner of seven Tonys. She’s best known among my generation for her work on Murder She Wrote and Beauty and the Beast, but my favorite role of hers is in the original Manchurian Candidate. Be sure to check it out.

Willie Spence, Former American Idol contestant

Michael Callan, Broadway, film and TV actress

Toshi Ichiyanagi, Avant-garde composer and first husband of Yoko Ono

WATCH THIS

I Love You, You Hate Me: This documentary explores the children’s series Barney, and the virulent backlash the show inspired. What started off as a snarky joke ultimately became violent. Premiere. Peacock

Easy-Bake Battle: As far as I can tell, this new baking competition is merely inspired by Easy-Bake Ovens; competitors do not actually have to cook in Easy-Bake Ovens. But that would be a show I’d be much more likely to actually watch. Series premiere. Netflix

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Reunion: HOO BOY it’s been a season. And from what I hear, this reunion … does not go well. Part 1 begins tonight. 7 p.m., Bravo

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Dwayne Johnson, Camila Cabello, Lil Baby
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Pierce Brosnan, Sharon Horgan, Craig Finn
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: George Stephanopoulos, Marcia Gay Harden
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden: Eddie Redmayne, Grace Van Patten, Gabriels
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jessica Chastain, Maren Morris
  • The Daily Show: Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, Lester Walker
  • Watch What Happens Live: Kyle Richards, Chloe Grace Moretz

WEDS. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC The Conners
(new)		 The Goldbergs
(new)		 Abbott Elementary
(new)		 Home Economics
(new)		 Big Sky
(new)
CBS Survivor
(new)		 The Real Love Boat
(new)		 The Amazing Race
(repeat)
CW Stargirl
(new)		 Kung Fu
(new)		 Local
FOX The Masked Singer
(new)		 LEGO Masters
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Chicago Med
(new)		 Chicago Fire
(new)		 Chicago P.D.
(new)

2 thoughts on “Is this the beginning of the end of late-night?”

  1. With regard to streaming, we were kicking around the idea of cutting the cord again (We did it in like 2014 but the technology just wasn’t quite there and it seems like a much more friendly landscape now). I put together a spreadsheet of all the streaming services + internet + Fubo/DirecTV stream to get the Astros and it was like $20 less than we are paying now. There’s too many of them and the cost keeps going up

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