Like a drunk staggering home at 3 a.m., the current Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour (one of the U.S. association’s two annual events) is wending its stop-and-go way to a conclusion set for March 3, 2021, having begun so foggily far back it’s sometimes difficult to remember when. Yes, the official tour began on January 26 with NBC introducing a trio of new series — Debris, Kenan, and Young Rock — but a couple of ad-hoc single-day presentations, including a CW session for Walker, preceded this year’s opening by a few days. Today, Monday, the CW returns, adding itself to the list of “official” outlets on the tour that has thus far included NBC, CBS, and PBS.
By now, the critics, like so many people globally, seem to be acclimating to their second Zoom event, and are putting up with the usual frustrating glitches — such as pauses, echoing, freezing, people forgetting to unmute their mics, or people leaving mics on after they’ve asked a question. While critics who had once complained about being sequestered in a hotel for so long during press tours (usually at The Langham Hotel in Pasadena), there’s a thought that that complaining will cease in the future and that that sort of “normalcy” can’t come soon enough.
During the CBS presentation, Kelly Kahl, president, CBS Entertainment, admitted that 2020 was “pretty crappy” (yes, he really did say that!), but revealed that everyone had learned a lot. “Who knew we, or anyone, could successfully operate a broadcast network from home?” he asked. He was amazed that they could even put on a successful Upfront presentation “without 3,000 people at Carnegie Hall.”
Kahl promised “more originals for the second half of the year,” and touched on the “enormous hurdles, both external and internal, that we needed to jump over to get these shows back into production and back on the air.” CBS, according to Kahl, is continuing to look for shows that appeal to their core viewers, “as well as broadening the aperture of what CBS shows can be,” in what was undoubtedly a nod toward competition from streamers.
Thom Sherman, EVP Programming for the net, said that CBS was “deep into the development of new projects. We recently filmed some pilots that were paused from last season due to the COVID production shutdown, but we’ll also film some new ones. We are evaluating scripts as we speak…We’ve learned a lot this past year, how to adapt and look at things differently… In a break from old models, we might even order some projects straight to series like we did with The Equalizer and Clarice.” The latter is considered by Kahl to be a “classic CBS drama.”
In addition to the aforementioned two series, the network also presented Tough as Nails.
NBC did not hold an executive session, preferring instead to showcase talent from new shows, including Debris, Kenan, and Young Rock.
Tuesday, February 2, saw the arrival of PBS, who skipped a day (Wednesday), allowing journalists to make the most of the Golden Globe announcements, before rounding out the week on Thursday and Friday.
Paula Kerger, president/CEO of PBS, reminded everyone that the PBS network of 335 member stations had helped its viewers “navigate the twists and turns of 2020, from our special programming to keep people informed about the pandemic to our nationwide effort to support children and educators during school closures.”
Suggesting that PBS was also “America’s home for documentaries,” Kerger revealed the public broadcaster was “focused on sharing important and often untold stories, the kind of stories that open hearts and expand minds,” before announcing a revelatory portrait of The Joy Luck Club author via Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, and a look at the life of dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp in Twyla Moves, both of which will be under the American Masters umbrella during this coming season. Of course, hardly any worthy PBS presentation can resist a Ken Burns mention, and did so for his latest project, Hemingway, about the late author.
As an incentive to other producers and directors currently outside the PBS ring, the pubcaster is putting out an open call “for content creators of diverse backgrounds” to submit long-and short-form films and Kerger promises to “provide funding for the top entries.” (By Mike Reynolds in Los Angeles)
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