Taking a look at the series premieres for November can lead to surprise. Where is this strict dosage derived from the strikes? Is it normal that, even without resolving the conflict with the actors, they reach our screens? around sixty new series or seasonsincluding lavish literary adaptations (‘The Light You Can’t See’, ‘The Buccaneers’), spectacular franchise extensions (‘Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters’), ‘anime’ care (‘Scott Pilgrim makes the leap’), new creations by cult authors (‘Murder at the end of the world’from the people of ‘The OA’) or the (first part of the) final season of a Netflix flagship title (‘The Crown’)?
A figure and an offer like these suggest that, certainly, the platforms had enough material in the refrigerator to survive the double strike in the short term. In the case of Netflix, the abundance is partly explained by the greatest advantage of this streamer over its competitors: the fact that it is present and produces in many other countries apart from the United States. Although Hollywood producers want to think so, the world has not been left half an orphan of entertainment in recent months. Both on Netflix and through other channels, the viewer has been able to immerse themselves even more than usual in European, Asian or Latin American productions with as much appeal as the series that HBO premiered on Sundays.
Canceled and postponed series
Finished ‘Succession’, and waiting for the premiere of ‘True Detective: Polar Night’ In mid-January, HBO is having a hard time coming up with new iconic series to fill the void left by the Roy saga. ‘The Idol’ was not up to the challenge and ‘Time of Victory: The Lakers Dynasty’, even being better, lost almost half its audience in its second season.
Both appear in the dense list of series canceled during the frenzy of cuts and purges derived (only in part, because a first catalyst was the shocking loss of Netflix users in 2022) of the labor slowdown. Only on HBO or Max, the groundbreaking sketch series has also dropped ‘A black lady sketch show’ and the memorable satire of the pop world ‘The other two’. Paramount+ (whose material comes to us through SkyShowtime) has canceled reviews of intellectual properties such as ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ and ‘Fatal Attraction’ or the ‘thriller’ with Kiefer Sutherland ‘Rabbit hole’.
Prime Video agreed to give a second (brief) season to ‘Elllas dan el el cuerpo’ before using the strikes as an excuse to back out, just as it did with the renewal of the very expensive ‘The peripheral’. Apple TV+ gave up remaking the classic ‘Metropolis’ with the help of Sam Esmail, creator of ‘Mr. Robot’. From the most superfluous (‘How I Met Your Father’) to the biggest (‘The Great’), everything has suffered in this market correction.
Neither ‘Euphoria’, nor ‘The White Lotus’ nor ‘The last of us’ until 2025
On the other hand, what has survived could take a long time to arrive. I mentioned it last Thursday Casey BloysCEO of HBO and Max content, at a press event in New York: neither ‘Euphoria’, nor ‘The White Lotus’ nor ‘The last of us’ will probably have new seasons until 2025; It is also too optimistic to hope ‘Welcome to Derry’, the prequel to ‘It’, for next year. Already in Netflix territory, we will surely have to wait an extra year for the fifth and final seasons of ‘Stranger things’ and ‘You’ or the fourth of ‘Emily in Paris’. After managing to weather the volatility in 2023, the platforms face a somewhat more uncertain 2024.
All these alterations have their equivalent in the cinematographic calendar: the live-action version of ‘Snow White’, part 2 of ‘Mission Impossible: Deadly Sentence’, the new sequel to ‘Avatar’ or Pixar’s next original venture, ‘Elio ‘, have also jumped to 2025, and the next film in the ‘Star Wars’ universe will not finally arrive that year, but in 2026.
Nature is healing
While actors and studios have just shortened their positions, they are already working tirelessly on writing new material. Many writers’ rooms were rearmed at the beginning of October, as soon as the first strike ended. Between the first series to be reactivated were ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘9-1-1’, ‘Abbott College’ either ‘Yellowjackets’. According to a recent information from ‘Deadline’also the writers’ room ‘And just like that…’ is in operation.
2024 will bring fewer big American releases than expected, but the platforms still have some tricks up their sleeve. For example, Apple brings in January ‘The masters of the air’, spiritual sequel to ‘Blood Brothers’ with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in the production. Prime Video’s deal with Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan (the ‘Westworld’ duo) will arrive in April ‘Fallout’, based on the famous post-apocalyptic role-playing video game. Disney+ has just confirmed a third season of ‘The Bear’ for next year. And the same Bloys who dampened our enthusiasm with the prospect of more ‘Euphoria’ has promised the return of ‘The House of the Dragon’ for next summer; before, Larry David will once again delight misanthropes with the twelfth season of its sitcom.
Beyond ‘Peak TV’
Once the double strike is definitively shelved, American television will never be the same, which does not necessarily mean that it will be worse. The scriptwriters, as well as, in principle, the actors, will emerge from the trance with improved and more advantageous conditions, as well as a sense of protection from AI instruments.
Related news
Viewers may have a few fewer titles to choose from, but the thing is the volume of the ‘Peak TV’ era – 560 original series in 2021 and 590 in 2022, according to the accounts of FX executive John Landgraf– it was unaffordable even for those of us who professionally dedicate ourselves to watching television. Let’s just hope that between one sure shot and the next, the industry continues to leave room for original ideas and filmmakers willing to experiment in the series format and do so, also, with budgetary freedom.
“Although painful at first, the bursting of the bubble could be good in the long term,” Frank Sponitz told ‘Deadline’, former executive of ‘The X Files’, during the last Mipcom audiovisual market. “There is too much television. Many programs should not have been made and many good things went unnoticed due to that profusion. We will find a more rational business model that will be better for all of us“.