Day: May 11, 2020

Fox’s fall line-up: Life without those pesky pilots

The Fox network has concocted a pandemic-proof (almost) schedule for this fall.
It’s found ways to have a full schedule without any shows that require a fresh pilot film. That includes repurposing two series — “L.A.’s Finest” (shown here) and “Cosmos: Possible Worlds” — that have aired elswhere.
The result still has a batch of shows for mid-season, when football ends and voids begin. It makes no mention of “Last Man Standing,” “The Resident” or “Deputy.” Also, “Empire” had finished its six-season run. Read more…

Best-bets for May 13: “Survivor” gets a champion of champions

1) “Survivor” finale, 8-11 p.m., CBS. Surviving in a field of previous winners are two cops (Tony Vlachos, 45, and Sarah Lacina, 34) and an ex-Marine (Ben Driebergen, 36). They face the edition’s oldest person (Denise Stapley, 48), one of the youngest (Michele Fitzgerald, a travel consultant, 29) and one more, with Nick Wilson (shown here) as the newest member of the jury. Lacina and Stapley are both from Iowa, but Stapley is said to be the state’s only certified sex consultant. The final hour – including results and follow-up – will be done long-distance. Read more…

It’s a scandalous tale of Di and lies, Elvis and Trump

When Elvis Presley died in 1977, the differences in news coverage were cavernous.
ABC and NBC led their newscasts with the story and had latenight specials. CBS started with a long Panama Canal piece, then did just 70 seconds on Presley. “Our job is not to respond to public taste,” Richard Salant, its news chief, told reporters.
And the National Enquirer? By the time those newscasts started, “there were six Enquirer reporters in the air for Memphis with $50,000 in cash,” said Mark Landsman, director of “Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer,” the fascinating documentary that debuts Sunday (May 17) on CNN. Read more…