| Hello again! Thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming brief. Today's kind of a grab bag in terms of my "Best Streaming of 2023" lists, where I'm putting all the shows and films and projects that didn't seem to fit anywhere else. I'll wrap that up tomorrow with the best debut and limited series of the year. Hope you're enjoying them and maybe finding one or two new suggestions for stuff to watch in there. Have a great holiday week! Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | A new report from the Financial Times indicates that traditional entertainment companies lost more than $5 billion in 2023 on their streaming platforms. The group includes Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast (which owns NBCUniversal and the Peacock service), and Paramount. More: - In addition to spiraling costs for new and licensed content, incoming revenue from cable subscriptions and advertising is falling rapidly.
- According to FT, after decades of growth, each of these companies now faces pressure to slash costs or sell off legacy businesses.
- Paramount CEO Bob Bakish and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone have discussed either a sale or potential mergers with other entertainment companies.
- Many streaming services have already raised prices in an attempt to offset the losses; the next step is likely increased consolidation, as platforms join forces or drop out of the "streaming wars" entirely.
- The terms of WarnerMedia and Discovery's merger included a provision that barred any more dealmaking for 2 years; that term expires in April.
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| 2 | | According to Deadline, without an anticipated flood of new post-strike projects, networks and platforms are now scrambling to put together fresh programming line-ups for 2024. During the work stoppage, most writers apparently focused on the strike rather than new projects, while many producers opted to wait until after the holidays to begin taking development meetings. More: - A trickle of projects arrived in November and early December, and some were already scooped up, such as Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer's comedy series, which went to Amazon Prime Video.
- Some of these hot new development deals will provide an early indication as to how serious streaming companies are about cost-cutting and belt-tightening rhetoric.
- Deadline also reports that there's a "frothy book market," which could lead to a line-up of new literary adaptations; writer Nellie Andreeva notes that major streaming hits like "Bridgerton" and "The Night Agent" were based on older books, rather than popular recent releases.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28 OPRAH AND THE COLOR PURPLE JOURNEY: Behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the production of the new film adaptation of the "Color Purple" musical. The film also includes segments examining the legacy of Alice Walker's original novel and the 1985 non-musical adaptation from director Steven Spielberg. Oprah Winfrey, who was Oscar-nominated for her performance as Sofia in '85's "The Color Purple," hosts. [Max] MARRIED TO REAL ESTATE: The HGTV renovation series follows married real estate broker and designer Egypt Sherrod and builder Mike Jackson as they help Atlanta families find, purchase, and then upgrade their dream homes. It's back for a third season. [Max] POKÉMON CONCIERGE: Debut stop-motion animated series from Japan, spun off from the "Pokémon" game and media franchise. It centers on Haru (Karen Fukuhara in the English dub), a concierge at a luxury resort and spa designed for both Pokémon and their trainers. [Netflix] | | | |
| 4 | | LON'S "BEST IN STREAMING" LIST FOR 2023 SPECIALS AND OTHER DIFFICULT-TO-CATEGORIZE CONTENT WES ANDERSON'S ROALD DAHL ADAPTATIONS [Netflix] The "Asteroid City" director made four short films for Netflix this year, each based on a short story by the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" author, and all in his "play within a play" meta-narrative style. The films capture Dahl's voice and signature combination of whimsy and brutality, even going so far as to cast Ralph Fiennes as a stand-in for the iconic author. But they're also reinventions, focused as much on the nature of storytelling as the stories themselves. I think Anderson's take on "The Swan" is arguably his masterpiece, a completely new take on a relatively simple story of childhood cruelty in which an adult narrator recontextualizes his youthful experiences in real time. JOHN MULANEY: BABY J [Netflix] In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about what formally defines stand-up comedy, and how "serious" a comedian can get during a comedy special while still remaining technically in that genre. I don't want to reignite those debates, but I will point out that in "Baby J," John Mulaney manages to get pretty serious, and examine some very relevant and pointed subject matter, while still frequently telling jokes. After a tumultuous few years in his personal life that seriously seemed to threaten Mulaney's carefully-curated public image, "Baby J" confirmed that he isn't going anywhere, and plans to mine these hiccups for further laughs rather than retreating to the shadows or exclusively writing material about being "cancelled." MARC MARON: FROM BLEAK TO DARK [Max] Another bold experiment in tonal balance, Maron's Max comedy special this year largely focused on the death of his long-time partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton, and healing his troubled relationship with his father. It's unconventional material for comedy, for sure, and not the sort of approach recommended to anyone without Maron's years of experience. But there's something deeply cathartic and human about watching a guy work through the worst experiences a human can go through with some humor on stage, even if your own backstory doesn't perfectly line up with his. CUNK ON EARTH [Netflix] The British mockumentary comedy series -- a parody of the classic BBC historical documentary style -- stars Diane Morgan as ill-informed TV presenter Philomena Cunk, who takes on no less a topic here than the entire history of human life on Earth. There's really just one joke here, that Cunk is an arrogant, bloviating doofus who has not done any relevant research, but nonetheless presents herself as an insightful expert. It's genuinely surprising that the show manages to keep this single bit funny through five full episodes, a testament to the strength of the writing and Morgan's ace deadpan performance. DOCTOR WHO 60th ANNIVERSARY SPECIALS [Disney+] David Tennant and Catherine Tate's years on "Doctor Who" defined the show's modern era, but as with all things "Who," their story ended on something of a downbeat, bittersweet note. Tate's companion Donna got to return to her life but with no memories of her time spent in the TARDIS with her best friend, The Doctor. So the chance to bring those two goofballs back for three new adventures was certainly tantalizing, but also a big risk. Hitting the wrong notes could sour fans on what's become a beloved, iconic run of television. Fortunately, returning showrunner Russell T. Davies really nailed all three of these adventures, wrapping up (or maybe spinning off?) The Fourteenth Doctor and Donna's story in a way that felt satisfying and earned, while still appropriately zany. | | | |
| 5 | | Lionsgate completed its acquisition of the entertainment and media company eOne from toymaker Hasbro. Lionsgate paid $375 million in cash as part of the deal, while also taking over some financing loans from Hasbro. More: - The deal was originally announced back in August.
- eOne adds about 6,500 film and TV titles to the Lionsgate library -- including "Atomic Blonde," "1917," "Green Book," "Criminal Minds," and "Grey's Anatomy" -- while expanding its presence in Canada and the UK.
- Current eOne-produced series include ABC's "The Rookie," Showtime's "Yellowjackets," and the Discovery reality series "Naked & Afraid."
- Most Hasbro-related IP will remain with the toymaker, but eOne retains the film development rights for the company's "Monopoly" board game.
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| 6 | | TVLine posted some first look images from Season 4 of Paramount+'s procedural drama "Evil." The series returns in early 2024; no specific release date has been set. More: - Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, and Aasif Mandvi star as a team of experts who investigate reports of supernatural phenomena on behalf of The Vatican; Kurt Fuller, Michael Emerson, Christine Lahti, and Andrea Martin co-star.
- The show was originally produced for CBS before moving over to Parmaount+.
- Season 3 wrapped up in August of 2022.
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| 7 | | In the Los Angeles Times, writer Leila Jordan looked back at Amazon's trailblazing "Pilot Season" program. Starting in 2013, Prime Video invited subscribers to watch their full line-up of pilots, and provide feedback on which shows deserved full seasons. More: - The original Pilot Season featured 14 titles, including the satirical comedy "Alpha House," "The Onion News Network," and a TV series based on the film "Zombieland"; none of these shows went on to become Prime Video hits.
- 2014's Pilot Season, however, featured three shows that ultimately ran for multiple seasons: "Transparent," "Bosch," and "Mozart in the Jungle."
- Creators praised the freedom provided by Pilot Season, which incentivized them to appeal directly to fans and viewers, rather than development executives and advertisers.
- According to Jordan, though, the program did not lead to hit shows with a level of "customer obsession" required to cut through the noise and find an audience.
- As well, Netflix's use of data and metrics provided more accurate and fine-tuned feedback than Amazon's focus groups.
- Ultimately, Prime Video started greenlighting new shows outside of the Pilot Season ecosystem; the program ended in 2017, following the departure of Amazon Studios chief Roy Price.
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- Gypsy Rose Blanchard, whose story inspired Hulu's scripted true-crime series "The Act," was released from prison this week at age 32; Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death of her mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee Blanchard," following years of emotional and physical abuse.
- CuriosityStream is now offering "lifetime subscriptions" for $179.97; the service, from Discovery Communications founder John Hendricks, focuses exclusively on educational documentaries.
- The behind-the-scenes tennis docuseries "Break Point" returns for a second season on January 10; the new episodes provide an intimate look at the ATOP Tour and Hologic WTA Tour's 2023 seasons.
- NBC News highlighted some "OG YouTubers" who returned to the platform this year, including a reunited Smosh comedy duo, Dan Howell and Phil Lester's "Dan and Phil Games," Charlie McDonnell, Blair "Juicystar07" Fowler, and Joey Graceffa's series "Escape the Night."
- The new season of "America's Got Talent" -- subtitled "Fantasy League" -- finds judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, and Melanie Brown drafting "all-star teams" to square off against one another; the new season premieres January 1 on NBC, and hits Peacock the following day.
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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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