DanaK

PBS folks will be talking to TV critics in their annual summer press tour (virtual like last year) over the next 3 days so I'll be posting several press releases on what's coming up, particularly in the next few months See https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/ for press releases, including other PBS info that I'm not posting here, including kid and digital stuff Nature will premiere its new season (40th!) on October 20 https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/nature-celebrates-40-years-with-new-season/ American Masters will premiere a documentary on choreographer Alvin Ailey on January 20, 2022 https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/american-masters-explores-the-life-and-impact-of-visionary-choreographer-and-dancer-alvin-ailey/ The Great American Recipe, an 8 part cooking competition, will premiere Summer 2022 https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-celebrates-americas-diverse-culinary-roots-in-the-great-american-recipe/

Renewed for Season 2 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/100-foot-wave-season-two-hbo-1234995059/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

New director uncovered, apparently for the second special, which is set to be broadcast in Spring 2022 Wang is a woman and first generation Chinese living in England. This seems to be her first major gig

I probably missed it, but why are they only now thinking to test the civilian girls and women to see who is a witch? That would seem like an obvious thing to do decades or centuries ago unless the hearing tech is new

JMS likely has no chance to run the show (he doesn’t even know who to contact), but I certainly would like it if he wrote an episode or two

Here I thought a visit to the Cession would give us more understanding of the place, including some interaction with a Native American tribe (other than a news report), but nope. Otherwise it was an interesting episode

I looked up the actor who plays M because I thought I had seen them in something before given their striking looks, especially the bald head. It appears the character, like the actor, identifies as non-binary, which I didn't pick up on. It leads me to wonder how this show's worldview treats non-binary witches, especially those who are born female, especially when it comes to the handfasting stuff. It's clear already they don't care if someone is gay like Raelle and doesn't want to marry a male witch

I disliked most of Peter’s era (though there were episodes that I liked), in large part because I thought 12 was very unlikeable and I hated 12 and Clara. But 12 got more likeable in Peter’s 3rd season and his relationship with Bill worked well. I watched several years after the fact, over a few weeks in 2018 via streaming; I don’t know if I would have continued watching the first season if I was watching in real time. I think they made a big mistake making 12 so unlikeable initially. People complained that Peter was too old but I think the bigger problem was the struggle to even like the character

To hear promotor John Schur actually say that the topless women were partly at fault for getting molested is just shocking and aggravating. Of course, this yahoo also wouldn’t take some responsibility for what transpired and blamed the media for saying unfair things, which is all pretty telling. I agree with the person who couldn’t believe people stayed through Sunday after all the previous issues

Looks like the new season premieres Saturday, August 14 at 8pm ET on Animal Planet (the linear channel). They are showing a 1 minute preview at various times

Definitely interested

I'm glad you pointed that out as I misread that myself. I thought Sep 2021 seemed a little early for the show to be ready. I hope it's worth over $400 million for Season 1. I can't help but remember the Fox dino series that cost them a ton, took longer to finish than they would have liked, and didn't get good enough ratings for a second season

The broadcast networks had so many Black shows in the 70s when I grew up and Fox started with a lot of Black shows, but by the time the 1990s and 2000s or so rolled around, the diversity went by the wayside in order to grab a bigger mainstream audience for of course bigger ad revenue. The commenters talked about their pain and frustration that it happened and it was really sad to hear it laid out. Now that streamers have a big slice of the pie, diversity is flourishing again. I worry that the huge amount of shows being produced will collapse when more cable networks and maybe broadcast networks and streamers collapse and the first thing to go will be the huge amount of diverse creators and casts (including women) that this new golden age of TV has brought and revert back to mostly White men

Well that was an unexpected ending

That's a real shame. Deadline is reporting that it appears he died of a heart attack while sitting on a horse getting ready to do a scene for a movie in Idaho https://deadline.com/2021/08/general-hospital-actor-jay-pickett-dies-shooting-film-1234807244/

30 minutes in so far and it’s quite interesting. I forgot about Woodstock 94 and I knew 69 had its issues but not that many. Lang just can’t seem to put on a Woodstock festival without losing money or having a lot of issues. His Woodstock 50 crashed and burned before it could happen And there’s never an excuse for molesting woman even if she’s topless, or making excuses for women getting molested. Remember original Woodstock had a lot of nudity, both male and female

I would consider most to be fans, except for the NotMyDoctor bunch, but Doctor Who fans seem particularly persnickety

The August issue of PBS DC station WETA's schedule magazine indicates the next season of Secrets of the Dead will premiere in October with episodes "Magellan's Crossing", "Lady Sapien" and "Stonehenge"

Some wonderful words from Jodie from the Doctor Who BBC page https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=jodie-whittaker-chris-chibnall-leave-doctor-who#_

My guess for the next Doctor is a person of color, male or female

Note that the special in the Fall/Autumn of 2022 will be feature length and it will be part of the BBC's 100th anniversary celebrations The BBC's Doctor Who website also did an article https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=jodie-whittaker-chris-chibnall-leave-doctor-who#_ Interesting that Chibnall says he and Jodie made a "3 seasons and done" pact

We had a heads up with the Mirror article so I'm not shocked, but I am sad to see Jodie go as I've really liked her era so far So it's 6 episodes for Series 13 + 1 special on New Year's Day (or 7 episodes for Series 13, with the NYD special being either a related special or the season finale for S13; it's not clear at this point). Then a special in the Spring and another special (presumably 13's regeneration) in the Fall/Autumn

FX has ordered additional documentary films for the series. The next film, titled "Move Fast and Vape Things" will premiere in September and will be about the company Juul and the issues it has faced since it started selling vaping products http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2021/07/27/fx-extends-deal-with-the-new-york-times-orders-additional-documentary-films-under-the-new-york-times-presents-banner-22213/20210727fx01/

Sorry, I should have indicated it was listed under "Special Report"