Is Kids’ Nostalgia a Bit Fuzzy?
Matt Roush: Kids is easily my favorite new comedy of the fall broadcast season—not that there was a lot of competition this year—and I especially love the scenes when the whole Cleary family scrambles to fill their plates and find a seat at the dinner table, while mom Peggy (Mary McCormack) and dad Mike (Michael Cudlitz) dish out heaping helpings of tough love. That all feels very real to me as well as funny. Keep in mind that this is a very specific memory of 1970s family life, from the POV of series creator Tim Doyle (who narrates and whose alter ego of “creative” child Timmy drives many of the subplots), so Peggy’s look may be accurate to that household, if not yours. I was roughly the same age as Timmy in the early ’70s and remember some moms (mostly aunts) who pretty much kept a “dress” code at home, so Peggy’s outfits don’t throw me—and to my memory, she only dons pearls for special church occasions, which seems appropriate to the Irish-Catholic milieu Kids is portraying.
And let me finish by noting that I truly related to the boys trying to watch a scandalous variety-show moment (apparently an urban legend) without their parents’ knowledge. And when that went wrong, Timmy laments: “If only there was a way to see something on TV again after it’s already been on.” Life before VCRs, DVRs, VHS, DVDs and streaming: I remember it well.
The multihyphenate penned the BBC comedy which is now streaming on Sundance Now.
Dead to All, Or Just Subscribers?
Matt Roush: A few viewers wrote in to wonder about this possibility, and for now, I'm assuming that any future Walking Dead originals, including the Rick Grimes movies, will remain on the AMC channel. Nothing has been said to suggest otherwise. Yet. If they decide instead to use these special events to promote the AMC Premium service (which is basically an add-on to provide commercial-free versions of current AMC shows among other perks), that would indeed be foul play and fans would have every right to be upset. (Many of my readers are already peeved enough that CBS has put so many tempting originals behind the All Access paywall.) Your basic question—how much money viewers are expected to shell out for a growing number of pay services (ABC/Disney and Apple are next)—is something the industry is already wondering.
Rick Grimes is gone, six years have passed and a new danger is looming on the horizon.
Matt Roush: This seems to be a case-by-case, show-by-show decision whether and when to release streaming originals on DVD. It isn’t as profitable a market as it used to be, although CBS clearly sees an upside in making their higher-profile titles available on disc. (I tend not to keep up with shows’ afterlife on DVD or in syndication, so can’t say with any certainty what’s in the pipeline.) I don’t see this happening as much—yet—with Amazon original series, which are obviously intended to enhance the value of a Prime membership. If even something as mainstream as Bosch is only available in a non-U.S. format, that tells me you’re probably in for a wait for shows like the wonderful Mrs. Maisel and the popular Jack Ryan to be released in this format. But again, I don’t follow the DVD business, so anything’s possible.
Is It Curtains for Midnight?
Matt Roush: As I’ve said more times than I can count, networks aren’t in the business of setting up expensive original programming for failure. NBC figured, perhaps naively, that Midnight (with its Charlaine Harris tie-in) could work in the same cult-TV time slot as Grimm did for years. Dipping back into the Grimm well almost certainly would have happened regardless of Midnight’s fortunes, or lack thereof. If there’s any upside, it’s that expectations on Fridays are roughly the same (low) as they are for summer series—why else would Blindspot still be on?—and while Midnight might be struggling, it’s not dead yet.
Anything can happen in this small southern town.
Matt Roush: Another frequent complaint (not as frequent as loud music drowning out dialogue), but bonus points for pointing out a show that does it right. Note to producers: If you’re going to use this device, make it at least as easy to read as subtitles or closed-captions.