FCC orders early review of Disney’s ABC licenses amid Trump-Kimmel feud / Netflix renews Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 / Lisa Kudrow recalls “mean stuff” from male Friends writers
PLUS: Stephen Colbert: “Something changed” between when CBS offered me a five-year contract in 2023 and The Late Show’s cancelation in 2025.
FCC orders early review of Disney’s ABC broadcast TV licenses amid Trump feud with Jimmy Kimmel
The FCC is going forward with what Semafor earlier reported was an “early license review” of the eight Disney-owned ABC stations, whose licenses are not supposed to be up for renewal until 2028 at the earliest and 2031 at the latest. The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg and John Koblin call the FCC’s review “an extraordinary move to pressure a major television network whose programming has frequently angered President Trump. The agency overseeing the review, the Federal Communications Commission, said in a filing that the review was related to an investigation into ABC’s diversity and inclusion policies. But it came in the middle of a fight this week between Mr. Trump and the network’s late night host, Jimmy Kimmel, that prompted the president to demand that ABC fire Mr. Kimmel. The F.C.C. action represented an escalation by the Trump administration and the president to punish major media outlets for their coverage. Mr. Trump has personally sued several news organizations, including The New York Times, and the Pentagon has tried to sharply restrict news media access. Mr. Trump’s F.C.C. chairman, Brendan Carr, has repeatedly threatened to take action against broadcasters, including to take away their valuable station licenses. His agency’s action on Tuesday was the first direct step toward potentially doing so. It is extremely difficult for the government to take away stations’ rights to broadcast; it must be able to make a convincing case that the stations had shown a pattern of violating rules and regulations. Even if the F.C.C. ultimately decides to block the renewal of ABC’s station licenses, the network would have ample recourse in the courts. And it would be able to continue to broadcast as the fight played out.”
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Disney is “confident” about passing FCC’s early license review: “We have received the Federal Communications Commission’s order initiating an accelerated review of the licenses held by ABC’s owned television stations. ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming. We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels. Our focus remains, as always, on serving viewers in the local communities where our stations operate.”
Stephen Colbert: “Something changed” between when CBS offered me a five-year contract in 2023 and The Late Show’s cancelation in 2025
In an exit interview with The New York Times, Colbert discussed why his cancelation seemed “fishy.” “I do not dispute their rationale,” he said. “I do make jokes about it. But I also completely understand why people would say (A) that doesn’t make sense to me and (B) that seems fishy to me, because the network did it to themselves by bending the knee to the Trump administration over a $20 billion, settled for $16 million, completely frivolous lawsuit. It’s possible that two things can be true. Broadcast can be in trouble. They cannot monetize because of things like YouTube, because of the competition of streaming. They’ve got the books, and I do not have any desire to debate them over what they say their business model is and how it does not work for them anymore. But less than two years before they called to say it’s over, they were very eager for me to be signed for a long time. So, something changed.” AS The Times’ John Koblin explains, “one of the reasons Mr. Colbert found the cancellation surprising, he said, was that CBS encouraged him in 2023 to sign a long contract, as long as five years. He ultimately signed a three-year deal.” Colbert also discussed his post-Late Show future (outside of co-writing a new Lord of the Rings movie). Colbert said he’s too busy thinking about The Late Show to consider his future, but he spends “more time with podcasts than any form of entertainment.” “It takes all my time, so I don’t know,” he said of his Late Show work. “People have called to say, ‘Do you want to do X, Y or Z?’ And I would say, like: ‘Hey, that’s great. I don’t think I could give you a good answer until I can really think about it.” It literally took me years to think enough about writing one script. And I put a lot of thought into it. And I feel good about what we’re doing, and I want to feel that good about everything I do. So when this is over and I have a little time to breathe, probably after turning in the first draft, too, of this thing, I’ll know then.” ALSO: Stephen Colbert rejects “partisan” label on political jokes: “I don’t have any problem with Trump being a Republican.”
Netflix renews Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 for Season 2
The pickup comes five days after the animated spinoff that takes place between Season 2 and 3 of Stranger Things dropped on Netflix.
Jimmy Kimmel confidently batted down Donald and Melania Trump calling for his firing
“The presumption that Jimmy Kimmel might be trembling in the bullseye this time, with his corporate bosses under direct pressure from the President and his wife to fire him, evaporated Monday night like a blast of empty hot air,” says LateNighter’s Bill Carter of Kimmel’s response to post-White House Correspondents’ Dinner-outrage over last Thursday’s Melania Trump “expectant widow” joke. “No breast-beating,” says Carter. “No mea culpas or maxima culpas. Not even a mini-culpa A show; a solid, entertaining, funny show, with jokes, a taped bit, and a couple of guests who also were solid and funny. A show; a solid, entertaining, funny show, with jokes, a taped bit, and a couple of guests who also were solid and funny.” “Carter adds: “Kimmel did all of this looking totally like the veteran late-night host he is, and nothing like a whipped dog, which may have been what some had expected.”
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Gayle King defends Jimmy Kimmel on CBS Mornings: “Jimmy Kimmel is not some crazy person who would wish the president to be killed”
MAGA fan and Jimmy Kimmel Live! alum Adam Carolla defends good friend Jimmy Kimmel, saying “expectant widow” joke wasn’t egregious”
Lisa Kudrow recalls “mean stuff” from male Friends writers, from “brutal” reprimands to fantasizing about female stars
The Friends writing staff consisted of “mostly men,” Kudrow tells The Times of London. “There was definitely mean stuff going on behind the scenes,” Kudrow said. “Don’t forget we were recording in front of a live audience of 400, and if you messed up one of these writers’ lines or it didn’t get the perfect response they could be like, ‘Can’t the bitch f*cking read? She’s not even trying. She f*cked up my line.’” In the writers room, “the guys would be up late discussing their sexual fantasies about Jennifer (Aniston) and Courteney (Cox). It was intense,” said Kudrow, adding: “Oh, it could be brutal, but these guys — and it was mostly men in there — were sitting up until 3 a.m. trying to write the show so my attitude was, ‘Say what you like about me behind my back because then it doesn’t matter,’ ” she said.
Judge agrees General Hospital star Kirsten Storms is in a “mental health crisis” after ex-husband Brandon Barash filed an emergency restraining order
Former Days of Our Lives star Brandon Barash filed an emergency restraining order against his ex-wife, Kristen Storms, who is the mother of their 12-year-old daughter, requesting that she receive a mental health evaluation. A judge approved Barash’s request and agreed that the General Hospital star is in a “mental health crisis.”
Amazon developing NASCAR family drama series Godspeed
Written by Underground co-creator Joe Pokaski, “Godspeed is a one-hour family drama set in the high-stakes world of NASCAR racing,” per Deadline. “Parrish Motorsports is the last family-owned team in Stock Car Racing with ties to the original bootleggers. When their owner and driver are killed in a crash, the owner’s widow, Virginia, must rally her fractured family to save the team, protect their legacy, and chase a championship. If picked up to series, Godspeed would complement Prime Video’s NASCAR coverage which started with the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.” News of Godspeed comes weeks after news that Dennis Quaid is starring in a Thunder Road NASCAR drama series for AMC.
NFL Draft viewership isn’t all its cracked up to be
“As the NFL tries to press the pedal to the metal for more everything, it has experienced shrinkage when it comes to the TV audience from its primary offseason tentpole event,” says ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio. “The 2026 audience fell from 13.6 million to 13.2 million. That’s across the umpteen platforms that televise the draft — ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, YouTube, the ESPN app, etc. Remember when the NFL was making noise about turning the first round of the draft into an election-style production, with ALL major networks surrendering their prime-time hours to covering it? That hasn’t been mentioned in years, and likely won’t be revisited. Given the many on-demand streaming options available to anyone at any given time, no one is going to watch draft coverage on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC if they just aren’t interested. While 13.2 million in today’s fractured environment is nothing to sneeze at (especially in comparison to the live audiences generated by other sports), it’s more than two million below the 2025 weekly average for Thursday Night Football, which is televised not by a three-letter network but by Prime Video. Put simply, the performance of the draft does not match the relentless hype that is devoted to it.”
YouTube TV launches customized multiview across its full channel lineup
Previously, multiview, which launched in 2023, was limited to a pre-set list of sports and news channels, as well as special events.
Amazon sets a premiere date for Megan Park’s YA series Sterling Point
The eight-episode coming-of-age drama will be binge-released on Aug. 5.
Dave Chappelle to perform three nights of shows at Netflix Is a Joke fest
Chappelle will star in three nights of music and comedy at the Hollywood Palladium from May 7 through 9.
The CW adds NXT Premium Live Events
Starting with The Great American Bash later this summer, The CW will broadcast 20 Premium Live Events over the next few years, including Stand and Deliver, Deadline, and Vengeance Day.
Darren Criss and Uzo Aduba to announce the Tony Award nominations
They will announce the nominations next Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET on YouTube, with a selection of nominations announced a half hour earlier on CBS Mornings.
FX unveils the trailer for Welcome to Wrexham Season 5
Ryan and Rob Mac’s soccer club docuseries returns May 14.
Craig Ferguson “hits the road and unpacks the American dream” in CNN’s trailer for docuseries American On Purpose
Craig Ferguson: American On Purpose, premiering May 30, promises “ all the good, bad and freaky stuff in between.”
Watch Acorn TV’s trailer for Brooke Shields’ You’re Killing Me
Shields plays a bestselling novelist who forms an unlikely alliance with an aspiring writer and true crime podcaster to find the killer of a close friend in the six-episode murder-mystery series, premiering May 18.
Netflix promises more swaps, sparks and drama in the Perfect Match Season 4 trailer
“Reality stars from Love Is Blind, Vanderpump Rules, Love Island and more shake up the game, but who’ll find their perfect match?, says Netflix of the dating reality show that returns May 13.