Most of us have sort of a love-hate relationship with TV. We love a lot of what we see, and hate perhaps an equal amount. And a lot of us yell insults at our screens when we watch.
Well, I certainly do.
But as much as it’s easy to get angry at TV, here are seven reasons NOT to get mad.
HBO Max has been renamed Max.
And I’ve seen lots of people asking why Warner Bros. Discovery execs did that, because HBO is so often associated with quality programming.
But that’s exactly the point. HBO is a brand that denotes quality. And the merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ created a streamer that’s filled with a lot of junk.
WBD didn’t want the HBO brand associated with shows like “Dr. Pimple Popper” and “1,000 lb. Sisters.” Good choice.
(Eddy Chen| HBO) Lily-Rose Depp in "The Idol."
There was one less episode of ‘The Idol’ than expected.
Season 1 of HBO’s “The Idol” was announced as six episodes; it turned out to be only five. So it concluded on July 2.
This was good news. That show is a wretched, tawdry mess that never should have made it onto HBO’s schedule. Not everything on HBO is quality.
It still might return for a second season. HBO execs haven’t canceled it yet. If it does return, that would be actual bad news.
The ‘Dune’ TV series is a prequel.
Generally, I’m not a fan of prequels, with some exceptions. But in the case of “Dune: Sisterhood,” I’m OK with this being a series about events before what happens in “Dune,” both the book and the movies.
I’ve read a whole bunch of “Dune” sequels, and it’s a case of diminishing returns. So a prequel — told from the point of view of the Bene Gesserit order — seems like a decent idea.
Whether it ever gets made remains a question. It was ordered by the streaming service now known as Max way back in 2019, and it hasn’t happened yet. But there were some recent casting announcements, so the project is still alive.
(Jeff Weddell | ABC) Hill Harper and Freddie Highmore on "The Good Doctor." HILL HARPER
Another ‘Good Doctor’ original cast member is leaving the show.
Hill Harper, who starred as Dr. Marcus Andrews, is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, as a Democrat. (The incumbent, Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, is retiring at the end of her term.)
It’ll be OK. His character wasn’t pivotal to the show, which has been renewed for a seventh season. And Marcus resigned as president of the hospital in the Season 6 finale, so there’s an easy way out.
I’m making the assumption that Harper, a Harvard-educated lawyer, won’t be back. But it’s at least theoretically possible that by the time the Hollywood writers’ strike is settled, Harper will have lost the Democratic primary and the show’s producers will ask him back. But nobody wants the strike to last well into next year.
Assuming Harper does not return to “The Good Doctor,” that will leave just two cast members who’ve been on the show since the beginning: Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy and Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman.
(Shane Brown/FX) Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack, Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan Postoak, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear, and Lane Factor as Cheese in "Reservation Dogs."
The third season of ‘Reservation Dogs’ will be the last.
It’s not good news that this distinct, entertaining series about a group of Native American teenagers in Oklahoma is ending, but this was a decision made by the show’s producers.
Series creator Sterlin Harjo posted on Instagram that ending the series after three seasons is the “correct decision creatively. … I always knew what the end of this story would be, I just didn’t know when it would arrive. As we continued to break stories and write scripts this season, it became clear to the producers, Taika [Waititi] and me that the Season 3 finale is the perfect SERIES finale.”
I’d rather see the show go out when it’s still creatively strong that give us sub-par seasons.
And this may not be the end for the show’s characters. Harjo wrote in his post, “Although it’s the end of this story, it’s likely you will see Elora Danan, Bear Smallhill, Willie Jack, Cheese Williams and other characters in the Rez Dogs universe show up in other stories to come.” He has a deal to create more shows for FX.
The final season of “Reservation Dogs” starts streaming Aug. 9 on Hulu.
(Netflix) David Gyasi and Keri Russell in the Season 1 finale of "The Diplomat."
Season 1 of ‘The Diplomat’ ended on a massive cliffhanger.
In the closing moments of the season finale, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the American ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), the UK’s foreign secretary, figured out who was behind an attack on a British aircraft carrier — and it’s pretty shocking. But the episode ends before they can take any action on what they’ve learned.
But there’s good news. Netflix has ordered a second season of “The Diplomat,” which means the cliffhanger will be resolved.
It’s true that series renewals don’t exactly mean what they used to mean — it’s not unheard of for a programmer to renew a show and then decide to cancel it before it goes back into production. But, according to Netflix, the first season of “The Diplomat” was wildly popular, so that seems unlikely with this series.
The tacky ‘Love Island USA’ is returning for Season 5.
The ridiculous, tawdry dating/competition show will start streaming on Peacock on Tuesday. Ick.
But … there are no Utahns in the announced cast. Which means I don’t have to watch it.
I realize this means nothing to the rest of you, but it’s great news for me.
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