Keely's Korner

FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news

ON TELEVISION (FRIDAY 7/24/26)
HGTV: Roast My Rental (Premiere) at 10pm
HULU: Nirvanna The Band The Show (Premiere)
TUBI: Breaking Bear (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Musafir Cafe (Premiere)

(SATURDAY 7/25/26)
HULU: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity (Premiere)

(SUNDAY 7/26/26)
ADULT SWIM: President Curtis (Premiere) at 11:30pm
AMC: The Walking Dead: Dead City (Premiere) at 9pm
FOOD NETWORK: The Great Food Truck Race (Premiere) at 9pm

Peacock cracked the code to streaming profitability. — the NBCUniversal’s streaminger service turned its first-ever quarterly profit, banking $189 million last quarterfor the three months ended in June while adding 2 million paid subscribers, bringing its total to hit 48 million total. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, NBA Playoffs, and “Love Island USA” Season 8 did the heavy lifting in helping draw newon the subscribers front.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The FIFA World Cup was a tale of two countries for TelevisaUnivision.
-The media company’s second-quarter results were largely defined by the tournament, which bolstered performance in Mexico while weighing on U.S. operations, where rival Telemundo held broadcast rights.
-Total revenue climbed 10 percent year over year to $1.3 billion, fueled by a 53 percent surge in Mexico, where 675 million viewers watched linear and streaming coverage. Mexican advertising revenue rose 23 percent to $353 million.
-In the United States, advertising revenue dropped 29% to $323.3 million, a decline Wall Street had been advised to anticipate amid competitive pressures.
–The Takeaway: The numbers highlight the growing stakes of sports streaming rights, where capturing — or ceding — a global event like the World Cup can swing quarterly financials by hundreds of millions of dollars.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Forget binge-watching — micro is the new mega. As the global vertical video economy surges, microdrama apps are expected to account for roughly $4 billion of the projected $150 billion in total revenue in 2026. And a report from Holywater Tech and Owl & Co, using in-product data from Holywater’s MyDrama and MyMuse apps as well as a user survey, found that microdrama audiences are diversifying at a striking pace.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Luna has landed — right on your couch. Amazon tucked its Luna video game service right inside Prime Video on Fire TVs. Prime members will spot a new “Games” tab where they can jump into titles using a controller or their phone.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Apple TV+’s The Morning Show will wrap with a fifth and final season in 2027. The flagship drama, which launched the streamer in 2019, signs off with stars and executive producers Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon both calling it a career highlight.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Season 3 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” premieres Friday, Nov. 20 on Disney+. The new installment is based on “The Titan’s Curse,” the third installment of the book series by Rick Riordan.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Love is complicated — but what if the secret to finding it is looking in the opposite direction? Apple TV ordered “The Last Person on Earth,” following New York Times bestselling author and couples therapist Esther Perel and a team of matchmakers and therapists as they pair couples who appear to be opposites. The docuseries is executive produced by Dan Gray, Lou Hutchinson and Phil Harris, with series director Josh Jacobs.  
(Source: Cynopsis)

Netflix reversed course, renewing Tyler Perry’s “Beauty in Black” for Season 4. The streamer previously billed Season 3 as the drama’s last, with a premiere date still TBD. Season 2’s performance likely drove the decision — it logged six weeks on Netflix’s Global Top 10.
(Source: Cynopsis)

MOVIES
Motor City – Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster, Shailene Woodley, Lionel Boyce, Amar Chadha-Patel, Pablo Schreiber, Dominic Bogart, Mister Fitzgerald, Rafael Cebrián, Ben McKenzie, Jack White, Frank Rivers, Maceo Oliver, Jacqueline Tate

Pinocchio: Unstrung – Richard Brake, Robert Englund, Cameron Bell, Jessica Balmer, Karolina Knight, Mya Brown, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Jack Art Gray, Luca Marandola, Toni Olabanji, Elliott Spilling, William Turnbull, Charlotte Jackson Coleman, Belinda Fenty

STREAMING
72 Hours (Netflix) – Kevin Hart, Marcello Hernandez, Kam Patterson, Ben Marshall, Zach Cherry, Michael Mando, Teyana Taylor, Kevin Dunn, Anna Garcia, Elysée Sanvillé, Geena Quintos, Megan Suri, Andy Garcia Brandon Dial, Mike Epps, Mason Gooding

The Dink (Apple TV) – Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, Aaron Chen, River Beier, Ed Harris, Robert Rebetsky, Boone Nelson, Nathan Blair, Indiana Elle, Cayden Romero, Cooper Woestendick, Chloe Fineman, Don Lake, Wayne Wilderson, Lennon Parham, Chris Parnell, Ben Stiller

BROADWAY
Here are the latest shows that will be closing soon.
https://www.broadway.com/broadway-guide/9/broadway-shows-closing-soon/

NYC STREET FAIRS
https://nycstreetfairs.com/event-schedule/

https://cititour.com/NYC_Events/2026-New-York-City-Street-Fairs/33756

https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/festivals

MEGA MILLIONS
Today’s Jackpot is $743 million.
(One ticket costs $5.00 as of April 2025)
You can now play in 43 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NYLottery.NY.gov

POWERBALL
Saturday’s Jackpot is $600 million.
(One ticket costs $2.00)
Powerball is played in 43 states.
NYLottery.NY.go

CELEBRITY NEWS: JULY 23, 2026
http://www.imdb.com/news/celebrity

Santo August aka Roc Royal (Mindless Behavior) – 29 years old
Neil Perry (The Band Perry) – 36 years old
Daniel Radcliffe (“Harry Potter” movies) – 37 years old
Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) – 44 years old
Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child) – 47 years old
Stephanie March (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) – 52 years old
Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision / “Bad Moms” movies) – 53 years old
Monica Lewinsky (Infamous White House Intern) – 53 years old
Marlon Wayans (NBC’s Marlon/ “Fifty Shades of Black”) – 54 years old
Alison Krauss (Country Singer) – 55 years old
Charisma Carpenter (Angel/ Buffy The Vampire Slayer) – 56 years old
Stephanie Seymour (Model) – 58 years old
Saul “Slash” Hudson (Guns N’ Roses) – 61 years old
Eriq La Salle (ER/ “Coming To America”) – 64 years old
Woody Harrelson (“The Hunger Games” movies/ Cheers) – 65 years old
Edie McClurg (“Frozen” / “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) – 81 years old

FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news

ON TELEVISION (THURSDAY 7/23/26)
A&E: Behind Bard: Officer Cam (Premiere) at 9pm
AMC+/SUNDANCE NOW: The Idaho Murders: A College Town Nightmare (Premiere)
BRITBOX: Gone (Premiere)
FOOD NETWORK: Restaurant Impossible: Last Call (Premiere) at 8pm
HBO MAX: Stuart Fails to Save the Universe (Premiere)
NETFLIX: Ransom Canyon (Premiere)
PARAMOUNT+: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Premiere)
TBS: Impractical Jokers (Premiere) at 10pm

The Writers Guild of America wants to halt Paramount Skydance’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery – now.
-The WGA West and WGA East filed for a preliminary injunction in federal court in Oakland Wednesday, arguing the deal must be halted before it closes — because once it does, it can’t be undone.
-The guilds sued last week on antitrust grounds, warning the combined company would control 35 percent of the market for writing services and wipe out direct competition between two rivals that writers depend on to bid against each other.
-The guild also addressed the fact that the delays would cost Paramount $7 million per day past the Sept. 30 deadline. The WGA’s response: that’s a penalty Paramount agreed to, so it’s not their problem.
-The WGA’s action runs parallel to the lawsuit recently filed by 12 state attorneys general, which already scored a 14-day restraining order on the deal. The guild wants to sync up with that case or get its own fast-tracked timeline.
–The Bottom Line: The WGA isn’t waiting to see how the merger plays out — it’s trying to kill it before the ink dries.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Paramount did score a win on Wednesday — the European Commission greenlit its merger with WBD, clearing the antitrust hurdle after the company agreed to unwind its United International Pictures film distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures in Europe within 13 months of closing the merger.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Hollywood vets have gone vertical. Jeffrey Schenck, Barry Barnholtz and Peter Sullivan — the trio behind Netflix hits like “Secret Obsession” and Hallmark’s “Christmas Under Wraps” — launched VertTV, a subscription app serving up snackable, cinematic micro-dramas shot vertically for mobile phones, reports Deadline. The platform will drop new originals monthly, with a roster that reads like a TV nostalgia buffet: Vivica A. Fox, Jodie Sweetin, Richard Karn and a “Fuller House” mini-reunion, among others. A 200-title vault of films and series rounds things out on day one. The app is live on iOS and Android, with a free YouTube preview channel on the side. Ad-supported and a la carte tiers are on the way. The Pitch: Hollywood quality, TikTok format.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The VertTV crew isn’t alone. As micro-dramas explode from niche obsession to full-blown industry, producers Alon Shtruzman (“La Brea”) and Scott Einbinder (“Killer Joe”) are entering the space with the goal of broadening the format beyond its romance-heavy roots into genres like thrillers, crime, comedy, sports, docu-reality, music, and creator-led originals. Together, they launched New Short Media, a micro-storytelling studio operating alongside their existing banner 5X Media.
(Source: Cynopsis)

Paramount+ has ordered drama series “Laird,” with Kenneth Branagh set to star and executive produce. Created by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth — the duo behind Paramount+ series “The Agency” — and Georgia Lee (“The 100”), and produced by Paramount Television Studios and 101 Studios, the show follows a proud Scotsman who goes up against a shadowy American billionaire seeking to acquire his ancestral lands. Butterworth also serves as co-creator and showrunner of Paramount+’s “Mobland.”
(Source: Cynopsis)

Julie Andrews is getting the documentary treatment. R.J. Cutler (“Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry”) is directing and producing an untitled documentary on the iconic actress, singer and author, set to debut on Disney+ globally in 2027. The film promises an intimate look at the “Sound of Music” star’s journey from British vaudeville to global superstardom, drawing on rare archival footage and new interviews. An official title will be announced at a later date.
(Source: Cynopsis)

ID is going next-level on Aileen Wuornos. “Unmasking a Monster: Aileen Wuornos” uses advanced digital replication and VFX to reconstruct the life, crimes, and capture of one of America’s most notorious serial killers, bringing first-person accounts to life with next-generation visualizations. The docuseries premieres Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m.
(Source: Cynopsis)

The 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina drew 62.8 million U.S. viewers, breaking records on both Fox and Telemundo. According to Nielsen, Fox averaged 38.9 million viewers — peaking at 51.7 million — for the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. television history, while Telemundo drew 23.9 million.
(Source: Cynopsis)

In fact, the World Cup broke every Spanish-language record in the book. By the numbers:
-6.3 million average viewers across 104 matches, more than double than 2022 (+143%)
–Every round set a new Spanish-language TAD record; linear TV up +79%, streaming skyrocketed +297%
–Top 15 most-watched soccer matches in Spanish-language history all came from this tournament — the Spain vs. Argentina Final peaked at 23.9M viewers
–77.2 billion minutes consumed across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock & streaming, 79% more than the entire 2018 and 2022 World Cups combined
–The takeaway: Spanish-language fans didn’t just watch this World Cup — they obliterated every record ever set, turning 2026 into the undisputed greatest moment in Spanish-language sports media history. One tournament lapped two.
(Source: Cynopsis)

ABC’s “World News Tonight” ranked as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.48 million) on all of broadcast and cable for the week of July 13 (excluding sports, obviously), according to Nielsen. It’s the show’s 14th straight week at the top.
(Source: Cynopsis)