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| Hello again! In a somewhat confusing announcement, Disney revealed they're planning a "Toy Story"-themed NFL game for October. In truth, I only knew what they were talking about because I wrote about an earlier experiment with this same technology, used for an NHL game earlier this year. Basically, they digitally map all the on-field action and then -- in real-time -- replace the players, the coaches, the fans, and everything else with virtual animated characters and backdrops. So viewers can watch everything that's happening in the real game, but they'll be looking at Woody and Buzz Lightyear facing off instead of the real-life Falcons and Jaguars. The idea, I suppose, is to make these games more palatable and engaging for young viewers who maybe don't understand all the nuances of football yet. Still, I'm a bit dubious. I feel like sports broadcasts are one of those things kids get into because of the people around them, not because of the TV broadcast itself. If your older siblings and parents and extended family love football, you're probably going to love football. If they're all more into opera, I don't know if the presence of Pixar characters on the football broadcast is going to make a ton of difference. But maybe I'm just being cynical. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | Disney will stream a live NFL game with animated visuals based on the Pixar "Toy Story" franchise. The October 1 game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons has been redubbed "Toy Story Funday Football," and will stream on both Disney+ and ESPN+ at 9:30 am ET. More: - The game is part of a series of international matches that are taking place at London's Wembley Stadium.
- The main broadcast of the actual game will stream on ESPN+ as well as NFL+.
- Using on-field tracking data, Disney will be able to port the players and action in real-time to a virtual set within "Andy's Room" from the "Toy Story" films; humans will be replaced with images of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and other animated characters.
- An animated halftime show will also feature the motorcycle daredevil Duke Caboom, voiced by Keanu Reeves in "Toy Story 4."
- This is one of several experiments networks and streamers are making with enhanced sports content for young audiences; Disney previously aired an NHL game themed after the animated series "Big City Greens," and Paramount is planning a kids-themed Super Bowl supplement for Nickelodeon next year.
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| 2 | | More daytime talk shows will follow the lead of "The Drew Barrymore Show" and return during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The nationally-syndicated "Jennifer Hudson Show" will resume production for its second season on September 18; CBS' "The Talk" is also considering a return on the 18th. More: - It's unconfirmed whether or not all of "The Talk" co-hosts will return, should the show resume production; Jerry O'Connell has been spotted frequently on picket lines outside CBS Radford studios, where the show tapes.
- "The Talk" halted production in May, shortly after the beginning of the strike.
- "The Kelly Clarkson Show" is currently relocating from Los Angeles to New York for its fifth season; it's unknown when the new episodes will debut.
- Barrymore was the first daytime host to announce that her show would return; she has faced criticism and protests from WGA members.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 KELCE: Intimate feature documentary profile of the Philadelphia Eagles team captain and All-Pro center Jason Kelce, produced during the 2022 NFL season. Don Argott ("Last Days Here") directed. [Amazon] INSIDE: 2023 psychological thriller starring Willem Dafoe as an art thief who gets trapped in a high-tech Manhattan penthouse during a heist, and must use all of his wits and creativity in order to survive the ordeal. Vasilis Katsoupis makes his feature directorial debut with the film, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. [Amazon] FOOTBALL MUST GO ON: Four-episode docuseries taking viewers behind-the-scenes with Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk, following the players and coaches as they compete in the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League season, even as their home country is torn apart by war. [Paramount+] MICHELLE WOLF: IT'S GREAT TO BE HERE: The comedian and "Daily Show" veteran's latest stand-up special is split into three half-hour episodes, titled "New Neighborhood," "All Struggles Matter + Me Too," and "News to Me + All Beautiful." This is her third special, following 2019's "Joke Show" for Netflix and 2017's "Nice Lady" for HBO. [Netflix] GLOW UP: The UK reality competition series features aspiring make-up artists participating in a diverse series of challenges for a shot at a high-profile contract and the title of "Britain's Next Make-up Star." Season 5 hits Netflix today and features new host Leomie Anderson alongside judges Dominic Skinner and Val Garland. [Netflix] | | | |
| 4 | | New research from Ampere Analysis surveys the geographical regions with the most streaming subscriptions. According to Ampere's data, North America will likely soon drop to third place among areas with the most streaming subscribers. More: - The number of households with at least 1 streaming subscription in Western Europe will soon exceed North America, according to Ampere, with the UK and Germany driving much of the growth.
- Asia will remain the top region with the most households signed up for at least 1 SVOD service, with 390.2 million subscribers total by the close of 2024.
- Ampere estimates W. Europe will end 2024 with around 110.6 million subscribers, compared to N. America's 110.
- In 2024, N. America will likely account for around $125.3 billion in streaming revenue, or 49% of the global total; this would mark the first time this figure has dipped below 50%.
- Netflix's combined subscriber base in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa already exceeds its North American audience.
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| 5 | | Netflix grabbed the rights to "Woman of the Hour," the directorial debut of actor Anna Kendrick. Deadline reports the deal was valued at around $11 million. More: - The film is based on a real incident, and centers on a female contestant on "The Dating Game" who wins a date with a notorious serial killer.
- Despite being a registered sex offender, Rodney Alcala was accepted onto TV's "The Dating Game" as a "bachelor" in 1978, in the midst of his killing spree; he won a date with contestant Cheryl Bradshaw, who found him creepy and declined to meet up with him again.
- Kendrick stars as Bradshaw, while Daniel Zovatto portrays Alcala.
- The deal was struck at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
- While some films at the festival signed interim agreements with SAG-AFTRA, allowing talent to promote them, "Woman of the Hour" did not; this, in turn, made it more appealing for a quick deal with a streaming platform.
- Also at TIFF, Netflix picked up the worldwide rights to the feature documentary "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa."
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| 6 | | Netflix released a trailer for the upcoming limited series "The Fall of the House of Usher." The series comes from "Midnight Mass" and "The Haunting of Hill House" vet Mike Flanagan and was inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. More: - Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonnell star as wealthy Usher siblings, who co-manage their family's Fortunato Pharmaceutical empire; the arrival of a mysterious woman from their past threatens to tear down everything they've built.
- Carla Gugino, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Henry Thomas, Rahul Kohli, and Kate Siegel co-star.
- Flanagan created the series and directed four episodes; his frequent collaborator Michael Fimognari directed the remaining four.
- The series bows on October 12.
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| 7 | | The British comedy-drama series "Sex Education" returns to Netflix for a fourth and final season on September 21. The series follows the romantic lives of students from Moordale Secondary School. More: - Asa Butterfield and Ncuti Gatwa star as friends who are preparing to head off to college; Emma Mackey and Gillian Anderson co-star.
- "Schitt's Creek" vet Dan Levy joins the cast for Season 4 as an American tutor.
- The third season of "Sex Education" hit Netflix in 2021, and received around 66.6 million views in its first 91 days on the site.
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- Amazon and Blumhouse dropped a new trailer for the horror-comedy feature "Totally Killer," starring Kiernan Shipka as a teen from the present who's sent back to Halloween 1987, where she faces off against the Sweet Sixteen Killer; the film hits Prime Video on October 6.
- Apple announced a new partnership with Indian streaming aggregator Tata Play Binge, and will include Apple TV+ as part of the company's "premier bundle" of 27 video services; the package, which also includes subscriptions to Disney+ Hotstar, LionsgatePLAY, and similar services, costs 399 rupees per month, or around $5 US.
- One week into the new football season, Roku launched a specialized "NFL Zone" hub within its Sports category.
- The major US networks canceled their Fall TV preview specials due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes and a lack of fresh scripted content; the last time this happened was in 1980.
- According to an unconfirmed rumor, the final episodes of the hit anime "Attack on Titan" will hit Crunchyroll on November 4 of this year.
- Casting director Jeff Greenberg revealed that, in the "Fraiser" revival, the lead character returns to Boston with a new job, and will no longer host a radio call-in show, as he did on the previous series; Screenrant suggests, based on context, that he might now work as a college lecturer.
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 | Writer | | Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." | | This newsletter was edited by Lon Harris | |
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