This looks great. Netflix shows off what it plans for 2025
A common complaint around Netflix I hear from ABW readers is that they don’t watch the streamer very much and wonder why they continue to pay for it. Now, keep in mind that if you are an ABW reader, you’re likely much more of a content hunter/gatherer than your average casual viewer who is probably being very well served by Netflix.
I also feel this frustration, but I also know there are times where I become a really heavy Netflix user. Post COVID and strikes, there have been fewer periods of my own heavy use of the service.
But…
Yesterday Netflix showed off it’s 2025 slate of shows. And I gotta say, there’s a lot in this that has my attention. Anyway, here’s a wrap of news stories generated from the event(s…. there seemed to be one in LA and one in London… if there was a Sydney one, my invite was lost in the mail…):
Ginny & Georgia is back June 5. Read: Deadline
Lena Dunham has signed a first-look deal with Netflix. Read: Deadline
Madea's Destination Wedding and She The People are two Tyler Perry projects coming to Netflix in 2025. Read: thefutoncritic
Spike Lee is EP on doco Katrina: Come Hell and High Water - I thought we knew about this one already. Either way, it is a must-watch for me. Read: Deadline
Fall 2025 (Springtime here in Australia) will see the release of Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler. Joe Carnahan’s RIP led by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. An untitled Kathryn Bigelow thriller, with Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, and Greta Lee. Knives Out 3 - Wake Up Dead Man. Daniel Craig returns, with Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, and Mila Kunis. The Woman in Cabin 10, based on the bestselling novel by Ruth Ware. Keira Knightley and Guy Peace star. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, with Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, and Jacob Elordi. There’s a bunch more titles of films releasing throughout the year also announced. But I’m not just going to rewrite this entire article from The Wrap.
The third and final Squid Game debuts in June. Read: The Verge
There’s a new Tasmanian-set mystery show The Survivors that looks promising. Read: THR
The show I am most excited by - Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney debuts March 12.
At the event, Mulaney talked about what we can expect from the show:
“We will be live globally with no delay,” Mulaney shared from stage. “We will never be relevant. We will never be your source for news. We will always be reckless. Netflix will always provide us with data that we will ignore. This is the one place where you can see Arnold Schwarzenegger sitting next to Nikki Glaser, sitting next to a family therapist with music by Mannequin Pussy — that’s just an example; we don’t know if we can lock in Mannequin Pussy. This is a really fun experiment. Not since Harry and Meghan has Netflix given more money to someone without a specific plan.”
Read: Indiewire
Here’s Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria explaining that Netflix does make prestige TV, despite what everyone else says.
“Those of you who know me know that I love myth-busting. And one of the biggest myths about Netflix is that we don’t do ‘prestige TV’ — or we don’t do as much of it as we used to.”
“Now, the most annoying thing about this myth — besides the fact that it’s not true — is that nobody knows what ‘prestige TV’ actually is. Is it a critically acclaimed show? Does it win awards? Is it a show audiences love? Is it one that people at your dinner parties in New York and L.A. talk about? Like I said, no one knows. The only thing we do know is that a lot of people who brag about making prestige TV have a very narrow audience.”
“Today, we’re making more prestige TV than ever. Last year, we had more Emmy and Golden Globe nominations than any other network — and don’t forget about the Oscar noms. This year, we’ve got some beautiful, powerful shows that meet any definition of prestige TV’.”
First of all, I’d say that prestige TV is like pornography and one knows it when they see it.
Secondly, I’d say that yes, people do know what ‘prestige TV’ is… it is TV with high-end production values, good-to-great acting, and an elevated sense of creative. It’s not difficult to define, even if not every TV show fits neatly into a defined box.
But third… whatever happened to Bela defining the Netflix experience as being a ‘gourmet cheeseburger’? That is actually a perfect definition for what Netflix should be aiming at. Most viewers don’t actually want old-school style HBO dramas. They want NBC in the 90s and 00s. Great production values, slightly elevated creative, but also a bit meat & potatoes. The Night Agent, The Rookie, The Diplomat… these aren’t prestige shows. But they are great, fun, well-executed dramas. Just own it - this is good TV.
Read: Deadline
FireAid
In a couple of hours time (five, as I type this), there is a benefit concert being staged for those impacted by the LA wildfires that destroyed so many homes (most of which were the homes of everyday people… they weren’t all fancy palatial estates).
In the US, the concert will be streamed via: Amazon Music/Prime Video, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Disney+, Facebook, Instagram, iHeartRadio, Netflix, Paramount+, SoundCloud, Veeps, YouTube. It’s not clear which platforms outside of the US will carry it, but we do know you’ll be able to watch it at the below YouTube link.
And there are two concurrent concerts being held, so maybe there’s a second feed? There’s also no schedule, so you just need to press play and wait until you get to see Earth, Wind, & Fire (a more appropriate booking there has never been).
As far as I know, he hasn’t been announced… but surely Randy Newman will be on stage in some capacity.
My current obsession
If you are ever wondering why the newsletter might be a bit late, or you are friends or family and haven’t seen me for a few months…
I’m not trapped at home under a pile of old TV Week magazines.
Instead I am hooked on the latest Wordle-type of timewaster. It is called Cinenerdle and is a real-time competition game in which two people play against each other linking movies. It’s like a very broad Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon type of experience.
But there’s also real strategy in getting people to use up two of their three times they can mention a Ben Affleck film before hitting them with Glory Daze. You can always tell who is cheating because they can answer the question and almost always list Sam Rockwell.
Anyway, maybe I’ll be playing against you on the Cinenerdle site.
(This is not a paid endorsement, FYI… I’m just really into it.)
News Desk
One to watch out for its Peacock’s newly announced Superfakes. About a small-time Chinatown luxury counterfeit dealer who sells on the black market to build a suburban life, this is to be showrun by Beef co-EP Alice Ju and EP’d by the Safdie brothers (Uncut Gems). Read: Deadline
The now long-vacant billion dollar Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel at Disneyland will be repurposed as office space. Read: The Wrap
The Righteous Gemstones will return for a fourth and final season March 9. Read: Deadline
Hulu has acquired comedian Stavros Halkias’ feature film Let’s Start a Cult. Read: Deadline
Warner Bros Discovery has received three bids for Polish broadcaster TVN. Read: Reuters
The Costa Rico based local grocer Jose Mario Alfaro González has scored a win in the courts against Nintendo and can continue to trademark his store Super Mario. Mama mia! Read: Polygon
Corbin Bernsen (who seems like he’s amid a bit of a career revival right now) and Stephen Tobolowsky (y’know… Ned… Ned Ryerson!) have just wrapped indie pilot Woodstockers about “two guys who went to Woodstock in ’69 and never left.” Read: Deadline
Paramount+ has the exclusive Australian broadcast rights to Coppa Italia Frecciarossa
Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker will star in ITV heist thriller Frauds. Read: C21
On the eve of Australian pay TV company Foxtel set to lose it’s Warner Bros Discovery output deal (inclusive of HBO), starting March 1, it is raising customer prices between $2 and $3 per month. It last raised prices in Sept 2024 (just after losing the BBC output deal).
Oh no…
We are all victims in the fallout…
Trailer Park
Dark Winds returns for season 3 March 9 on AMC.
The Residence debuts March 20 on Netflix.
132 rooms. 157 suspects. 1 dead body. Uzo Aduba stars in The Residence, Shondaland’s unpredictable whodunnit set inside The White House.
Sosyal Climbers debuts Feb 27 on Netflix.
Stuck with a massive debt after falling for a scam, two wannabe socialites create elaborate fake identities to swindle the rich out of their money.
Forever debuts this year on Netflix. It is based on the 1975 Judy Blume novel.
An epic love story of two Black teens exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts, set in Los Angeles, 2018.
The Most Beautiful Girl in The World debuts on Netflix Feb 14.
A playboy stages a dating show to earn his inheritance by granting his father's last wish: for his son to marry the most beautiful girl in the world.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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