FINALLY! The strike is over! Bring back the TV!

by Therese Odell, posted in watch this

A message to all men:

Here’s A BUNCH OF TV News

Strike season is finally over (tentatively)! The studios put out a statement last night that they had reached a tentative agreement with SAG-AFTRA, and they are looking “forward to the industry resuming the work of telling great stories.” SAG-AFTRA similarly put out a statement reading in part: “We are thrilled and proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. As of 12:01am PT on Nov. 9, our strike is officially suspended and all picket locations are closed.”

I will point out that the timing wasn’t particularly surprising (though it was surprising that the AMPTP didn’t settle with them immediately after settling with the WGA). The studios were running out of runway to save some part of the 2023-2024 TV season, and for production on 2024 summer blockbusters. If a deal wasn’t made this week or next, the holidays would arrive, and no negotiations would be able to take place until January, at which point the TV season — and the movies — would be lost. Also, I don’t think it’s coincidental that Disney has a new Marvel movie coming out this week, The Marvels, which I’m sure they’d like to be able to promote through their stars, along with all the movies that are scheduled to come out over the holidays like the Hunger Games prequel. ALSO, awards season is around the corner, and the studios definitely want their stars to be out on the FYC circuit.

Whatever it was that finally broke the impasse, it’s great news for scripted storytelling.

So what happens next? Production on those summer blockbusters will begin ASAP, along with a number of big TV shows:

Noah Hawley says that production on the new FX Alien series will begin in early 2024, with a goal of premiering in 2025. LET’S GO.

Oh! And reports are that Netflix wants to get filming on Stranger Things started in the next couple of weeks.

As for regular TV, filming will begin again ASAP — November 27, to be exact — so expect new episodes of your favorite shows, your Abbott Elementaries and Ghosts and Law & Orders to return after the Super Bowl. New shows that were greenlit before the strike are likely to be pushed back to fall 2024, as getting a new show up and running is a great deal more involved than an established program.

Disney is going to combine Hulu and Disney+ into one app.

The following will contain spoilers for Gen V, so tread carefully (when you find /rant, I’ll be done, promise):

It was as far back as yesterday that I posted a piece from Collider that argued that Buffy should have never turned Jonathan and the Trio into incel villains because they (or at least Jonathan) had been good guys once. I urged the writer to go watch Gen V and try wrestling with the idea that through solid writing, “good” characters can evolve and become “bad,” because of their circumstances. And, if the writing is strong enough, the audience is able to empathize with the nuances of their character and how they came to this dark place.

Well, well, well, right on cue, here’s the Collider piece whinging that Gen V “did Sam dirty” in the season finale by turning him into a villain. Y’ALL. THESE ARE NOT BETRAYALS OF CHARACTER, THIS DID NOT COME OUT OF NOWHERE. Yes, Sam was “good” but he also had his reasons for siding with Cate, in large part because of the whole imprisonment and torture thing. As for him being “irredeemable,” the writers themselves have suggested that it’s not necessarily the case.

What I find interesting is how both of these pieces spend so much time worrying about the vilification of male characters, with zero interest in the female characters. Cate also makes a heel turn in Gen V, but we’re not worried about her irredeemability. And with the Buffy example, the writer wrings his hands worrying about Jonathan when the real problematic element of that entire story is how Buffy both refrigerator girled and buried our gays Tara so as to turn Willow “bad” for a while. But yes, let’s spend our energy worrying that good men are being turned bad by these mean writers. GIVE ME A BREAK.

/rant

With the news that Friends originally would have had Chandler cheat on Monica until Matthew Perry stepped in and killed the idea, here are 8 other TV storylines that didn’t happen, thank God.

The only thing better than a Republican ticket with one fascist TV personality on it is a ticket with TWO fascist TV personalities on it.

You won’t be seeing any of the Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, or Disney products on Netflix anytime ever, but other Disney properties … never say never.

Hoping Kel Mitchell is doing alright after suffering a medical scare.

R.I.P. Jezebel. You were a real one.

In Development

Mark Your Calendars

  • Masters of the Air will debut on Apple TV+ on January 26.
  • A Murder at the End of the World debuts on Hulu on November 14.
  • Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas will premiere on Lifetime on December 2.
  • The Black Hamptons returns on BET+ on December 7.
  • Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God will premiere on HBO on November 13.
  • High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America returns on Netflix on November 22.
  • Blood of Zeus will return on Netflix soon.
  • Bookie premieres on Max on November 30.

WATCH THIS

Rap Sh!t: Season two. Max

Colin from Accounts: In this new romantic comedy, a couple meet-cutes over a car accident and an injured dog. Series premiere. Paramount+

Sesame Street: Season premiere. Max

Big Brother: Season finale. 7 p.m., CBS

Doom Patrol: Series finale. Max

Loki: Season finale.  Disney+

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Jared Leto, AJR
  • Late Night with Seth Meyers: Hilary Duff, Please Don’t Destroy, Justin Faulkner
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live: Daniel Ricciardo, Lauren Daigle
  • The Daily Show: Judd Apatow, guest host Sarah Silverman
  • Watch What Happens Live: Bravocon Live: Charming House Rules
THUR 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC The Golden Bachelor
(new)		 Bachelor in Paradise
(new)
CBS Big Brother
(new)		 SEAL Team
(new)
CW Son of a Critch
(repeat)		 Run the Burbs
(repeat)		 Children Ruin Everything
(repeat)		 Everyone Else Burns
(new)		 News/Local
FOX Hell’s Kitchen
(new)		 LEGO Masters
(new)		 News/Local
NBC Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(repeat)		 Transplant
(new)		 Dateline NBC
(new)

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