FIRST LOOK
http://www.eonline.com/news
ON TELEVISION (MONDAY 5/1/23)
ACORN TV: Balthazar (Premiere)
AMAZON FREEVEE: Casa Grande (Premiere)
E!: E! Live From The Red Carpet” Met Gala 2023 at 6pm
HBO: White House Plumbers (Premiere) at 9pm
ID: Undercover Underage (Premiere) at 9pm
NAT GEO: A Small Light (Premiere) at 9pm
ABC: The Good Doctor (Finale) at 10pm
Former NBCU CEO Jeff Shell will forfeit $43.3 million in stock options and grants following his firing. “As previously disclosed, Mr. Shell’s employment was terminated with cause on April 23, 2023,” Comcast said in a SEC filing on April 28. “As a result, he did not receive any supplemental payments or benefits in connection with his termination. He will receive only his accrued but unpaid base salary and vacation time, vested employee benefits and reimbursement for any unreimbursed business expenses in accordance with his employment agreement.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Twitter is rolling out a feature that will allow media publishers to charge users on a per-article basis with one click, tweeted CEO Elon Musk on Saturday. “This enables users who would not sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per-article price for when they want to read an occasional article,” wrote Musk. “Should be a major win-win for both media orgs & the public.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Meanwhile, during Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Biden responded to Musk’s suggestion that NPR be defunded. “The way to make NPR go away,” said Biden, “is for Elon Musk to buy it.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Sinclair Broadcast Group is cutting local news operations in two small markets “to ensure our long-term success,” said the company. Stations affected are WNWO-TV in Toledo and KTVL-TV in Southern Oregon and Northern California. “Beginning May 15, The National Desk, which provides real-time national and regional news from Sinclair’s television stations across the US, will air during our regularly scheduled news time periods,” said a statement on the Toledo station’s website. The national news desk will also take over at KTVL-TV, “with an opportunity for local news cut-ins in the newscast.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Bill Hader is open to reviving Stefon, his flamboyant “Saturday Night Live” character, after all. While Hader has said in the past he would probably retire the character due to concerns over stereotyping, “I’ve never had any gay man come up to me and be offended that I [played Stefon],” he told The Independent. “I’ve always had people come up and say how much they love those roles. Honestly, I don’t know why I said [I wouldn’t play him anymore]. I probably would play him.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hank Azaria’s depiction of Indian character Apu on “The Simpsons” is another matter. On NPR podcast Code Switch, Azaria said 2017 documentary “The Trouble with Apu,” with comedian Harry Kondabolu, made him realize how many people were negatively affected by his portrayal. “Watching the doc, I was like: ‘Oh, I admire all these performers. A character I did – I, like, hindered them? I caused them pain? I actually actively made their path harder? That sucks.’”
(Source: Cynopsis)
Black Public Media awarded $225,000 to creatives in film and immersive media. The PitchBLACK Forum – a pitch competition for independent filmmakers and creative technologists developing new projects on the Black experience – finished with three winners on April 27. Paramount+ recently joined forces with BPM for PitchBLACK and another yet-to-be-announced initiative.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Like “Cheers, but with coffee and colonists? “Beantown” is in development for CBS. The workplace comedy from Dan Kopelman (“Malcolm in the Middle”), Kaplan Entertainment, TrillTV and CBS Studios is set in a Boston coffeehouse in 1773, against the backdrop of the Boston Tea Party.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Police drama “On Call” has moved from Amazon Freevee to Prime Video. The series from Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television stars Troian Bellisario (“Pretty Little Liars”) and Brandon Larracuente (“The Good Doctor”).
(Source: Cynopsis)
Fox handed a straight-to-series order for “Rescue: HI-Surf” from John Wells and Matt Kester, produced by Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment. “This new franchise is pure beachfront property for Fox, especially with the powerful auspices of John, Matt and our incredible partners at Warner Bros.”, said Michael Thorn, President Scripted Programming at Fox Entertainment. The series is scheduled to premiere in the 2023-24 season.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Hulu is set to produce a docuseries about Dr. Ann Burgess. “Mastermind” takes place in the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, where Dr. Burgess transformed the investigation of serial killers with the “mindhunter” method. Dakota and Elle Fanning are among the roster of executive producers.
(Source: Cynopsis)
A docuseries focused on singer Ed Sheeran premieres on Disney+ on May 3. “Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All” from Fulwell 73 Productions is a four-part project for Sheerans’ latest album, “Subtract,” debuting May 5. The series will blend exclusive footage from Sheeran’s personal archive, interviews with his loved ones and intimate performances.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Hailey’s On It” premieres on Disney on June 8. Created and executive produced by writing-producing duo Devin Bunje and Nick Stanton, the animated series follows a teenager on a mission to complete every item on her list of tasks in order to save the world. Julie Bowen, Al Yankovic, Sarah Chalke, Jo Koy and more star as recurring voice cast members.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Silos Baking Competition” drops Sunday, May 28 on Magnolia Network, discovery+ and Max. Ffve bakers from across the country will compete for a $100,000 cash prize and for their treat to be featured at Magnolia’s Silos Baking Co. in Waco, TX.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Kevin Hart’s “Muscle Car Crew” has moved to The Roku Channel. The second season of the MotorTrend and Hartbeat series will continue to follow Hart and the “Plastic Cup Boyz” at their car restoration garage. Roku also acquired AVOD and FAST rights to the series’ first season.
(Source: Cynopsis)
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez has joined “American Horror Story” season 12. Rodriguez, who previously worked with creator and director Ryan Murphy on “Pose,” will star alongside fellow cast members Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts and Cara Delevigne in the anthology series, this time based on Danielle Valentine’s novel “Delicate Condition.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
James Corden’s “The Late Late Show” finale audience jumper 77%compared to the season-to-date average on CBS. Reaching 1.43 million people, the farewell episode featured guests Will Ferrell and Harry Styles, an episode of Carpool Karaoke with Adele, and a pre-taped special complete with video montages and skits.
(Source: Cynopsis)
“Ted Lasso” earned a seat on Nielsen’s Top 10 overall streaming list last week. Coming in tenth place, the series saw 570 million viewing minutes. Netflix held onto the list’s top three spots with “The Night Agent,” “Love is Blind” and “Murder Mystery 2.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
And on FX, the Tupac-inspired docuseries “Dear Mama” is now the network’s most successful unscripted premiere to date, when accounting for same-day viewing on FX and next-day viewing on Hulu. FX Entertainment President Nick Grad said, “It’s only fitting that Allen Hughes’ definitive piece on Tupac and Afeni Shakur delivered a record performance for us and it speaks to Tupac’s enduring legacy.”
(Source: Cynopsis)
The cable news ratings race in the 8p slot has gotten tighter since Tucker Carlson was yanked from the air. On Thursday, “Fox News Tonight” took back the top spot from MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” delivering 1.46 million viewers versus Hayes’ 1.44 million, but Hayes won the demo battle, with 144,000 viewers A25-54, compared to 136,000 for FNC. CNN’s “Anderson Cooper” had a viewership of 644,000 (and 108,000 among A25-54), while Newsmax’s “Eric Bolling The Balance” rose to 456,000 (49,000 A25-54).
(Source: Cynopsis)
POWERBALL
Today’s Jackpot is $60 million.
Powerball is played in 43 states.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
The Super Mario Bros. Movie – $40 million
Evil Dead Rise – $12.2 million
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. – $6.8 million
John Wick: Chapter 4 – $5 million
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – $4.7 million
(Source: Box Office Mojo)
Keely's Korner 