WWE Raw debut on Netflix looked like a big-budget movie premiere / Golden Globes viewership actually fell slightly / Squid Game 2 blunder: Fans spot cameraman
PLUS: Scarlett Johansson to guest co-host NBC's Today with Jenna & Friends.
WWE's Monday Night Raw debut on Netflix looked stunning, like a big-budget movie premiere
"From the celebrities in the audience to music star Travis Scott accompanying WWE Superstar Jey Uso to the ring, Monday’s production felt more like a premium live event (PLE)," says The Athletic's Richard Deitsch, Chris Vannini and Jason Jones. "It felt designed to appeal to a wider audience than typical pro wrestling fans — and the new distribution channel on Netflix was clearly intended to take advantage of the platform’s worldwide reach." Deitsch adds: "As much as last night was about a new era for pro wrestling — more on that in a bit — the bigger picture is Netflix’s sports ambitions. The reason why this should matter as a sports fan is Netflix is a behemoth with about 270 million subscribers globally, including 80 million in the U.S. and Canada, and a market capitalization north of $395 billion. The company’s foray as a distributor for WWE’s live programming, coupled with its recent NFL broadcasts, make it clear that Netflix is on the path to being a player for upcoming live sports rights. This will change the landscape of sports consumption and cause consternation for the traditional linear powers given its financial might. As a pure production play: Last night’s look was stunning, especially how the WWE opened the show. It felt massive. Yes, there was an inordinate amount of celebrity overkill and an absurd amount of Netflix promotion (including now-corporate babyface Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson cutting an in-ring promo for the company), but last night was a mega success given the reams of attention from social media and conventional press that both Netflix and the WWE received. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance at a first impression, and Netflix and the WWE won big."
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WWE embracing the live aspects of its programming makes it a perfect fit for Netflix's future — and present: "On the surface, WWE Raw‘s debut episode on Netflix had everything a pro wrestling fan could have wanted," says Ben Axelrod. "A WrestleMania-caliber card. Multiple cameos from industry legends. Championship changes and major storyline developments. Oh, and of course, The Rock. And yet despite WWE clearly making a sizable effort to deliver on one of the most highly anticipated episodes of Raw in its 32-year history, most pro wrestling fans I know — the kind who subscribe to Dave Meltzer’s newsletter and spend thousands of dollars each year to attend WrestleMania — hated the show. The matches were too long and slowly paced. The storyline development was predictable, if not underwhelming. And most notably, The Rock inexplicably spent his entire appearance on the program out of character, effectively taking a blowtorch to whatever was left from his blockbuster rivalry with Cody Rhodes and a year’s worth of storyline development. Sure, this might have been a WrestleMania-caliber show. But it was closer to WrestleMania 32-36 (if you know, you know) than it was the critically acclaimed “Showcase of the Immortals” that WWE has delivered on post-COVID. And yet, despite marks like myself and my pro wrestling-based group chat feeling let down by WWE’s Netflix debut, the reality of the situation is that this show was never about us. Rather, it was about ushering in WWE’s new era — 'the Netflix era,' as COO Paul 'Triple H' Levesque dubbed it in the show’s opening segment."
What Monday Night Raw on Netflix was like for a WWE newbie: “It’s admittedly a lot to take in for the uninitiated”
Hulk Hogan was relentlessly booed by the Los Angeles audience at Monday Night Raw
Bill Simmons failed to avoid becoming a meme sitting next to Nikki Bella
Golden Globes viewership actually fell slightly from last year, Nielsen reports
On Monday, Paramount reported 10.1 million viewers watched Sunday's Nikki Glaser-hosted ceremony, up from the 9.4 million who watched last year's Jo Koy-hosted ceremony. Paramount, which is in a dispute with Nielsen, cited data from VideoAmp in its announcement. This morning, Nielsen, the industry's standard for ratings, reported its own figures, showing a slight 2% decline with 9.3 million viewers.
Dexter: Resurrection bringing on three Dexter vets: James Remar, David Zayas and Jack Alcott
They'll reteam with Michael C. Hall on the Showtime sequel series to Dexter. Remar will reprise his role as Harry Morgan, Dexter's father. Zayas will once again play Det. Angel Batista. And Alcott will return as Harrison Morgan, Dexter’s son.
Scarlett Johansson to guest co-host NBC's Today with Jenna & Friends
With Hoda Kotb departing this Friday, the fourth hour of the Today show will be retitled Today with Jenna & Friends starting next Monday with Jenna Bush Hager remaining as host. On Tuesday, Jan. 21, the day after Inauguration Day, Johansson will join Hager, co-hosting for the rest of the week.
Hulu announces a docuseries on imprisoned mommy vlogger Ruby Franke
Premiering Feb. 27, the three-part Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke tells the story of Franke, who had millions of followers on YouTube when she was arrested in 2023 along with her business partner for child abuse and creating a “concentration camp-like setting” for her young children. Last February, Franke was sentenced to between four and 60 years in prison.
Stephen Colbert's The Late Show gets a special Sunday airing, an hour after the AFC Championship game
The Late Show will help kick off CBS' midseason premiere week, airing after the series premiere of Morris Chestnut's Watson on Sunday, Jan. 26 following the AFC Championship game.
Squid Game 2 viewers spot an error: A cameraman in one of its biggest scenes
An user posted a cameraman in clear sight during a climactic Episode 7 shooting battle. The error has already been turned into a meme.
Squid Game 2 is racking up viewers at a record pace with more views in 11 days than any previous Netflix series
After topping Netflix‘s charts last week with 68 million views in four days, Squid Game 2 is now up to 126.2 million viewers in 11 days. Squid Game 2 has also soared to become Netflix's No. 2 non-English show of all time — behind Squid Game Season 1.
Nelly and Ashanti to star in a Peacock docuseries
The hip-hop couple, who welcomed their first child last year, have already begun filming their untitled docuseries. Nelly previously starred in BET reality show Nellyville. As Deadline notes, "the pair previously dated between 2003 and 2013 before getting back together in 2023. In April 2024, Ashanti revealed she was pregnant with her first child, born in July. They also quietly married in Missouri in December 2023."
Discovery+ is hiking its prices by $1
Starting today, the ad-supported plan will go up from $4.99 to $5.99 and the ad-free plan will rise from $8.99 to $9.99.
Ayo Edebiri and Abbott Elementary lead NAACP Image Award nominations
Edebiri earned four total nominations, three for The Bear and one for hosting SNL. Abbott Elementary earned 10 nominations, including individual nods for stars Quinta Brunson, Janelle James, Tyler James Williams, William Stanford Davis and Sheryl Lee Ralph. The NAACP Image Awards air live on CBS and BET on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Meet the women vying for The Bachelor Grant Ellis
ABC has released images, descriptions and video revealing the stars of The Bachelor Season 29, premiering Jan. 27.
A Late Night rerun of Seth Meyers joking about running over pedestrians aired on NBC hours after the New Year’s Day New Orleans truck attack
According to LateNighter, some Late Night viewers are questioning why NBC didn't pull the Dec. 11 episode that re-aired on the night of Jan. 1, following hours of coverage over the Bourbon Street truck attack that killed 14. The Dec. 11 episode featured a joke about Meyers admitting to running over pedestrians with his car.
Colman Domingo's The Madness leads Nielsen's streaming charts for the second consecutive week
Netflix's The Madness had 1.48 billion viewing minutes for the week of Dec. 2-8, followed by Netflix's Black Doves and Taylor Sheridan's Landman and Lioness on Paramount+.
Leah Remini mourns the death of her A&E Scientology and the Aftermath co-host Mike Rinder: "Mike saved my life and the life of my daughter"
Rinder, a former high-ranking Church of Scientology executive who turned into an outspoken critic of the organization, co-hosted the A&E series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath with Remini, as well as a podcast. He died Sunday of cancer at age 69. "When I left Scientology, Mike was one of the first people I turned to," Remini wrote on Instagram Tuesday. "From that moment, he became my lifeline. Together, we embarked on an incredible journey that included The Aftermath and our podcast, Fair Game. But Mike was so much more than my partner in this fight—he was my brother, my father, and my best friend. Mike saved my life and the life of my daughter and he stood by me through battles that felt insurmountable. I haven’t come to terms with the reality that I can’t call him and hear his voice anymore. I am shattered in ways I never thought possible. I have cried endlessly and can’t seem to move from my bed since coming home."
Netflix will reportedly help distribute products connected to Meghan Markle's With Love, Meghan and her lifestyle brand
Page Six reports With Love, Meghan will allow the Duchess of Sussex to hawk her lifestyle brand’s products directly to viewers with the help of Netflix.
The West Wing is without a streaming home after being removed from Max
The Aaron Sorkin NBC series isn't currently available on any streaming platform — at least without purchasing individual seasons — after Max removed it on New Year's Day. UPDATE: The West Wing will return to Max on Thursday.
Candace Parker to lead TNT Sports' coverage of the upstart Unrivaled women’s basketball league
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "the studio show will be built around former WNBA MVP Candace Parker, former WNBA All-Star Renee Montgomery and host Lauren Jbara, with appearances from Lisa Leslie, who will also serve as a game analyst. Taylor Rooks, Allie LaForce, Stephanie Ready and Ros Gold-Onwude will work as game reporters."
Wheel of Fortune turns 50
The long-running game show created by Merv Griffin launched on NBC on Jan. 6, 1975 with host Chuck Woolery and sidekick Susan Stafford.
Christina Haack defends HGTV after estranged husband Josh Hall accused the network of "manufactured drama" with The Flip Off promo
The promo released last Thursday showed Hall blowing up at Haack and telling her to “shut up,” prompting him to denounce the trailer as "manufactured drama." Haack fired back at Hall in an Instagram Story post sharing a screenshot of his post and adding: “Manufactured?! Pretty sure no one at HGTV told you to be rude to me…. That was all natural.”
Kelly Clarkson explains why she went barefoot on her talk show after Jim Gaffigan called her out
“What is going on with the feet?” Gaffigan said on today's The Kelly Clarkson Show, per EW. Clarkson had a very simple explanation for going barefoot: "My feet hurt. The stilettos I was supposed to wear today, I didn’t have enough middle fingers for it… so I just said no. I’ve never gone barefoot before, but that’s okay. That’s what we’re doing."
Is it fair to judge ESPN's They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce off its "not particularly good" premiere viewership?
"I've seen the numbers for ESPN's first episode of They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce, and they're not particularly good: 290,000 viewers," tweeted Puck News' John Ourand of ESPN's new late-night show, which premiered 1 a.m. ET early last Saturday morning. Ourand added that comparisons "are tough. Two weeks ago, that time slot had more than 700,000 viewers. But that figure was inflated by the Indiana-Notre Dame playoff game earlier in the night. Same time period last January averaged 436,000. From ESPN's perspective, viewership numbers from a late-night talk show that has a five-episode run don't matter nearly as much as other aspects of this programming deal. ESPN is happy to be in business with Jason Kelce, regardless." But, as Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina argues, "it doesn’t make a ton of sense in this day and age to judge a show like Kelce’s off of TV ratings alone. That show is produced just as much for YouTube and social media as it is for the ESPN television audience. It’s also produced because Jason’s brother is dating the biggest pop star in the world, but that’s a whole other issue. If the show can get any traction on social media, and if Travis keeps dating Taylor Swift, ESPN will be fine with a low television rating, especially since the show is only expected to air for five weeks in a row."
TCM to pay tribute to Teri Garr
Garr, who died at age 79 last October, will be celebrated Thursday night with three of her films: Young Frankenstein, Oh, God! and The Black Stallion.
Jimmy Kimmel awkwardly gives Selena Gomez a “Daddy Saddle” as an engagement gift
“I don’t want you to think that anything is being suggested here that isn’t,” Kimmel said of the engagement gift that will allow Gomez to ride fiancé Benny Bianco. The gift left Gomez blushing.
NFL mocks Game of Thrones' coffee cup blunder
In celebrating the Detroit Lions claiming victory as "Kings of the North" on Sunday night, the NFL tweeted out a drawing of the Lions players in Thrones-style costumes — complete with a modern coffee cup.
Keller Fornes, star of Great American Family's County Rescue, dies at 32
Fornes died Dec. 19. No cause of death was released. Fornes played Griffin on the GAF first responder drama series. He also had guest roles on The Walking Dead and Found. "We at Great American Media are deeply saddened by the passing of Keller Fornes," Great American Family said in a statement. "He was a special person and talent as an actor, writer, and director as well as a singer and musician. His energy and enthusiasm lifted all he worked with here at Great American Media and the cast and crew of County Rescue. Our prayers are with his family and all those he touched."
Richard Cohen, Meredith Vieira's husband of 38 years, dies at 76
News of Cohen's death was announced on Today, which Vieria used to co-anchor. Cohen had battled MS for 50 years and survived two cancer diagnoses. "She's in really good spirits," Today's Savannah Guthrie said of Vieira. "She was such a beautiful and devoted wife to Richard and he adored Meredith. And hanging out with them, they were like the most fun and entertaining, irreverent, cool couple you could hang out with." ALSO: The View's Joy Behar pays tribute to former colleague Meredith Vieira's husband Richard Cohen.
Watch Roy Wood Jr.'s Lonely Flowers trailer
The former Daily Show correspondent's first Hulu special and fourth overall, premiering Jan. 17, pokes fun at modern life's indignities.
Peacock releases an extended trailer for SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
The four-part documentary on the legacy of Saturday Night Live, featuring more than 60 interviews, premieres Jan. 16. ALSO: SNL announces merchandising partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue.
Paramount+ unveils the trailer for FBI True Season 6
The true-crime docuseries returns Jan. 14 with episodes devoted to the puzzling disappearance of a Yale PhD student and the nationwide manhunt for Gianni Versace's killer.