Category Archives: News/Analysis

How Showtime Got David Lynch to Revive ‘Twin Peaks’

kyle maclachlan twin peaks

As reporters covering TCA winter press tour, we don’t clap or cheer for the panelists (which often confuses those who are used to being showered with applause when they walk on stage for a large audience), but I was sure tempted to break that rule when Kyle MacLachlan came out dressed as Agent Dale Cooper to announce that he had signed on to Showtime’s upcoming revival of Twin Peaks.

Showtime Networks President David Nevins, who had previously talked with me about landing the show, shared more details about what audiences should expect from the limited series when it airs next year. As I wrote at Adweek,

Now that the deal is clinched, Nevins says his job boils down to “more or less, writing checks and leaving them alone. It’s David’s show, it’s Mark’s show, I will be the grateful recipient of it,” he said. “I will say that they have been very specific in promising closure, and that’s exciting. … From what I’ve seen, this is going to live up to expectations and then some.”

Production will begin later this year, and while locations haven’t been finalized, “I hope to go back to Washington,” where the series was shot, said Nevins.

Read the rest of the story for much more on how Nevins sealed the deal with Lynch, and why Twin Peaks represents an anomaly for Showtime.

How Showtime Got David Lynch to Revive Twin Peaks

‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ Will Debut Sept. 8

colbert cbs tca

CBS still leads all broadcasters in total viewers, but during winter press tour, all anyone wanted to talk about was its big upcoming year in late-night. That included network president Nina Tassler, who announced that Late Show with Stephen Colbert will debut Sept. 8. While the title and premiere date are set, everything else about the show is up in the air, as I wrote at Adweek:

Colbert will have music and guests on the show, but “whether or not he’s going to start with an opening monologue, he’s working on that right now,” said Tassler. “But clearly he knows that he is introducing the real Stephen Colbert to his audience. And he’s really putting a lot of attention on making sure the show is still topical, is still relevant.”

Tassler said she is open to throwing out much of the traditional talk show format if that’s what Colbert wants, explaining that part of CBS getting into business with him was about “really letting him do what he wants to do. We’re sitting back and waiting for him to come to us and say what he has in mind.” Still, she said, “I think there will be parts [that are] traditional, in some context, and then there are things where he’s going to want to try something else.”

Tassler also talked about her surprising plans to bridge the gap this summer between Letterman’s May exit and Colbert’s debut in September.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Will Debut Sept. 8

The CW Takes the Unusual Step of Renewing Its Entire Fall Lineup

CW TCA

Several hours before The CW won its first-ever Golden Globe, becoming the only broadcast network to do so this year, the network had an even bigger drop-the-mic moment: at winter press tour, it renewed eight series, including its entire fall lineup. As I wrote at Adweek,

No broadcaster in recent memory has ever renewed its entire fall lineup before. Pedowitz told reporters that this is part of the network’s transition to year-round scripted programming, with the renewed series returning over next fall, midseason and summer. “This enables us to finally get to the place of providing scripted summer programming,” he said, “and so the summer of ’16 should be a much bigger summer for us than ever before.”

Those hits have helped draw men back to the network. In the 2010-2011 season, the CW’s audience was only 30 percent male, and that percentage has grown to 40 percent this season. Also, “we grew a little older than we used to be,” said Pedowitz. “Our affiliates are happier [with] that.”

Pedowitz also talked about nurturing his low-rated but critically-acclaimed (and now Golden Globe-winning) Jane the Virgin, and why he’s exercising caution when it comes to crossovers and adding other superhero series to his stable.

The CW Takes the Unusual Step of Renewing Its Entire Fall Lineup

For One Night at Least, Amazon Reigns Supreme Over Netflix

transparent golden globe

Something happened at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards that had never occurred on a televised awards show before: one of the winners started off her acceptance speech by thanking Amazon and Jeff Bezos.

That person was Jill Soloway, who picked up Amazon’s first-ever TV award for one of 2014’s best shows, Transparent. (Jeffrey Tambor added to the tally later in the evening, with his own trophy.) As I wrote at Quartz,

The victory was especially sweet for Amazon because it triumphed over co-nominee Orange is the New Black, from its streaming competitor, Netflix. While House of Cards’ Kevin Spacey later won a Globe for best actor in a drama, giving Netflix one trophy out of seven nominations, Netflix still hasn’t broken through with a best comedy or drama series win at the Golden Globes or Emmys.

Now Amazon has beaten them to the punch. It’s not quite David beating Goliath, but for one night at least, Amazon—which still lags far behind Netflix in total streaming video usage—is the top streaming network in Hollywood.

I also talk about why the Globes victory couldn’t have come at a better time for Amazon.

For one night at least, Amazon reigns supreme over Netflix

No, Walter and Jesse Won’t Be in ‘Better Call Saul.’ But Anyone Else Could Turn Up

better call saul tca

Ever since Breaking Bad went off the air, AMC has been desperately searching for the next Breaking Bad. Now the network hopes it has found it…with their new Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul, which paneled today at winter press tour.

As I wrote at Adweek, Vince Gilligan, the creator of both Breaking Bad and its spinoff, says the sky’s the limit when it comes to Breaking Bad characters popping up on Better Call Saul — well, everyone except Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).

“Walt and Jesse don’t show up in Season 1. But everything else is on the table,” co-creator Peter Gould told reporters at today’s press event. “We want this thing to stand on its own.” (Also, as the AMC panel pointed out, Jesse Pinkman would have been in middle school during Better Call Saul’s first season.)

Before introducing the Better Call Saul panel, AMC president Charlie Collier talked about the “dramatic change” facing in the network, and why AMC is now operating in “a Live + 365 environment” (do advertisers know?).

No, Walter and Jesse Won’t Be in ‘Better Call Saul.’ But Anyone Else Could Turn Up

‘Mad Men’ Creator Hopes Finale Will Delight Fans, But Not ‘Give Them Everything They Want’

Mad Men finale

AMC is calling the upcoming Mad Men finale “The End of an Era,” and that’s not hyperbole. Today at winter press tour, creator Matt Weiner and Mad Men’s original six cast members assembled to reflect on Mad Men’s legacy, and its “surprise” conclusion.

As I wrote at Adweek, Weiner admitted he didn’t want to craft a finale that would spark fan outrage, like the How I Met Your Mother conclusion did:

“I’m trying to delight them and confound them, and not frustrate and irritate them. I don’t want them to walk away angry,” Weiner said of Mad Men viewers. But at the same time, “I don’t want to pander to them. … Sometimes, people have to be protected from what they want to see happen. You can’t just give them everything they want.”

There’s much more from the cast on how they reacted to the finale, and Weiner talks about protecting the Mad Men brand in the years to come.

‘Mad Men’ Creator Hopes Finale Will Delight Fans, But Not ‘Give Them Everything They Want’

Discovery’s New President Promises to Ditch Silly Stunts Like ‘Eaten Alive’

discovery snake

Discovery Channel president Rich Ross had only been on the job 72 hours when he appeared at TCA winter press tour this week, but he already had plenty of ideas about how to stem the network’s eroding ratings. As I wrote at Adweek,

The key, he said, will to be “authentic.”

“It’s really important that we look into this incredible brand and all the programming that we make and make sure that’s what we stand for,” he told journalists at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “And it’s a filter in which we’re looking at everything we have on the air and everything we’re talking about moving forward.”

That means no more silly stunts like December’s Eaten Alive special. As Ross promised, “I don’t believe you’ll be seeing a person eaten by a snake during my time.”

Discovery’s New President Promises to Ditch Silly Stunts Like ‘Eaten Alive’

History Channel Heads West With New Texas Series, Shot in Classic CinemaScope

cinemascope

Hoping to replicate its Memorial Day ratings bonanza from its 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, History is debuting another Western miniseries, Texas Rising, in the same slot this year. As I wrote at Adweek, History is making a little history of its own in the process:

The miniseries is being filmed in CinemaScope (with its 2.35:1 shooting ratio), a first for a television program. “When you watch it at home, it will be as if you’re watching one of the great classic Westerns,” said executive producer Leslie Greif. “We made a film that’s just airing on television.”

It actually won’t just be airing on television. History is partnering with Fathom Events to air a sneak preview of the first episode in Regal, Cinemark and AMC theaters. So, to recap: if you want to see a new movie like The Interview, turn on your TV. If you want to see the premiere of Texas Rising, go to a movie theater.

History Channel Heads West With New Texas Series, Shot in Classic CinemaScope

Can Dead People Resurrect A&E’s Ratings?

the returned

Things unraveled quickly for A&E in 2014, which is looking to The Returned, about dead people who suddenly reappear in a small town, to resurrect its ratings this year. The show is based on the French series, and the pilot is almost a shot-for-shot reaction of it. But executive producer Carlton Cuse swears that will change, as I wrote at Adweek:

“While we start in a similar place, the show is fairly distinctively different by the end of the season,” said Cuse. “We felt like there was a way to take the show and over time, make it something that was very distinctly our own.” Cuse added that while “there’s a small, fervent audience that watched the French show,” an even larger American audience did not.

Of course, that’s the same thing producers said last summer about Gracepoint, Fox’s adaptation of the British drama Broadchurch, which flopped last fall.

Can Dead People Resurrect A&E’s Ratings?

Discovery is Fast-Tracking an Answer to ‘Serial’

ID serial

After last fall’s runaway success of Serial, the race was on to see what company would be first to launch its own version of the true-crime podcast. It looks like the winner will be Investigation Discovery, which announced plans for its own true-crime podcast today at the TCA’s winter press tour.

Henry Schleiff, ID’s Group President, didn’t share too many details about the podcast onstage, but he gave me some scoop afterwards about the project, which he’s fast-tracking for this spring even though he hasn’t yet settled on a subject, or host.

As Schleiff told me, the podcast idea was completely prompted by Serial:

“I think we were all surprised by the amount of press and attention—and indeed some of the viewership, or ‘soundship’—that the podcast got,” explained Schleiff, who credits a lesson he learned from the late Don Hewitt, who created 60 Minutes. “He used to say about 60 Minutes, ‘If you can turn off the video and just listen to the voices, you’ve still got a great story.’ You put that learning and you put the experience of podcasts together and we said, great, we tell stories really well, why don’t we do our own version, and we’ll do a multi-arc podcast.”

Schleiff also shared some possible hosting ideas: could Susan Lucci be the new Sarah Koenig?

Discovery Is Fast-Tracking an Answer to NPR’s Serial