> 'Accused' premiered to 8.71 million viewers and a 2.08 rating among adults 18-49 following Fox’s telecast of the NFC divisional playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. Both figures are the best same-day Nielsen ratings for a series premiere this season, topping Night Court’s 7.55 million viewers and 0.98 18-49 rating earlier in the week on NBC.

> 'Accused' also had a huge lead-in: The 49ers-Cowboys game averaged 45.65 million viewers for Fox, and almost 24 million of those people stuck around for the 11-minute postgame show. The drama moves into its regular home Tuesday following the season premiere of 911: Lone Star. Two other Fox shows, Monarch and Alert: Missing Persons Unit, also debuted following (regular season) NFL games this year and lost more than half of their post-football audiences in their next outing.

And we see Hurley in the background waving his hands & exclaiming "Dude!"

'Lost': While the showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse said in various interviews they are not against the idea of reviving/rebooting 'Lost', they stressed that they will not part of any reboot. The show ended in 2010 & we haven't seen any actual plans to revive the show.

But since this Hollywood where they never say never, Disney might greenlit a Lost TV movie or a limited series to commemorate the popular show's 20th anniversary in 2024.

To be honest, I won't mind a Lost TV movie a la 'El Camino', 'Deadwood: The Movie' or 'The Day of the Doctor'.

Netflix's Guide on How to Lose Friends Subscribers & Alienate People!

> Stephen Colbert, a noted fantasy fan, has come on board to help develop and produce a series adaptation of Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber.

> Colbert, via his Spartina banner, will produce the adaptation alongside Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment.

> 'The Chronicles of Amber' features two series of five books each – The Corwin Cycle and The Merlin Cycle – with a number of short stories and prequels also in the series.

> It follows the story of Corwin, who awakens on Earth with no memory, but soon finds he is a prince of a royal family that has the ability to travel through different dimensions of reality, called shadows, and rules over the one true world, Amber.

Sounds great, hopefully one day we will get 'Lord of Light' TV series as well.

Business Insider published an article about Netflix's renewal process:

> The company also factors in how many viewers might tune in and how the title will perform across other regions of the world — the latter being a crucial component, given Netflix's international ambitions.

> That can be particularly useful when assessing whether to acquire certain IP, said a third former Netflix exec.

> The question of whether to renew a series for an additional season is where discussions can get "contentious," said the third insider.

> Hits like "Bridgerton" or "The Witcher" are no-brainers. But "any other show on the service is a fight," this person said, adding that even shows that repeatedly hit Netflix's Top 10 list may not garner the viewing hours or completion rates considered high enough for the CS&A researchers to offer a recommendation to renew. This can sometimes spur a difference of opinion between show execs and data analysts, particularly on shows that have smaller audiences but speak to underrepresented audiences, this person said.

> At Netflix, said the exec, "the bar is so, so high."

> While the U.S. national men’s team and Major League Soccer have struggled to gain a regular foothold on domestic television, their English and European counterparts have managed to carve out powerful niches here in the States in the meantime. As new streaming platforms Peacock and Paramount+ bolster their platforms with exclusive league rights, U.S. billionaires buy legacy clubs outright, Americans have become more (literally) invested in international men’s football as both an irresistible narrative and an incredible business opportunity. (Congratulations to Michael B. Jordan, the newest minority owner of A.F.C. Bournemouth!) Meanwhile, shows like Apple TV+’s Emmy smash “Ted Lasso” is all about American football coaches taking on the Premier League, while FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” documents how Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buy a small Welsh team. Documentarians have turned to soccer to tell stories like Netflix’s “FIFA Uncovered,” Amazon Prime Video’s “All or Nothing,” Disney+’s “Save Our Squad,” Apple TV+’s “Super League: The War For Football,” and so on (and on, and on…).

> For fans both new and old, the wave is overwhelming. And from a TV criticism perspective, I’ve been floored by not just the sheer volume of football #content flooding my small screen, but the quality of the stories unfolding along with it.

> “It’s genuinely remarkable how much coverage there is,” says Roger Bennett, co-host of NBC’s “Men in Blazers” show that breaks down all things football in podcasts, interviews, and even sold-out shows across the country during the World Cup. “You have the Premier League, Champions League, and La Liga. You have the NWSL and Women’s Super League, even the Colombian and Uruguayan leagues!”

> It also seems relevant that in 2020, as the pandemic forced restless people like me to find entertainment within the confines of their own home, English and European football largely resumed regular play by June. And with every single Premier League and Champions League match now available for US viewers on Peacock and Paramount+, respectively, the beautiful game is more accessible for Americans than ever before.

Thanks.

Given that Harrison Ford is in the show, I'm planning on watching it.

Question for those who've already seen '1923', do I need to watch the main series/other spinoff before watching this one?

There are several writers involved in season 2 of 'Picard', it would help if you mention the name of the scriptwriter that you're talking about.

> Satya Nadella keeps thinking bigger. Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) chief executive has been buying new businesses at an impressive clip. Look for him to add Netflix (NFLX.O) to the list in 2023.

> Since his 2014 promotion into the technology titan’s corner office, Nadella has embarked on a pricey shopping spree. It started with the $2.5 billion acquisition of the company behind the hit game Minecraft. Later, Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26 billion and the speech recognition and artificial intelligence software developer Nuance for $20 billion. Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) was by far the largest disclosed target, at $69 billion.

> Microsoft is busy fighting U.S. trustbusters for the right to absorb the “Call of Duty” creator. Putting it under the same roof as gaming console Xbox has led to regulatory concerns about market dominance. Even if Nadella loses out on the video-game company for competition reasons, however, owning Netflix would make strategic sense and probably be an easier sell in Washington and Brussels.

> The two companies are already closely aligned. Netflix chose Microsoft as its advertising partner for a new advertising-supported subscription service. Microsoft President Brad Smith also sits on the Netflix board. Part of the rationale for a deal is that Microsoft wants to offer a video-game streaming service over multiple devices.

Yeah, that's why 70s/80s porn movies are the best.

Couple years ago, there was an article on Vice talking about increasing popularity of incest porn in recent years.

Vice: How Incest Porn Is Making a Comeback - March 7, 2016

> Jeff Dillon, the vice president of business development of eLine.com (which handles popular porn hub GameLink), says that interest in fauxcest porn has increased by over 1,000 percent in the last five years. "This niche was really popular in the 70s and 80s," he says, noting the striking popularity of 1980 fauxcest feature Taboo—in which a sexually frustrated mother whose husband has recently left her ends up turning to her son, who, despite being asleep at the time, ultimately reciprocates—and other fauxcest films that were so unique, the public became fascinated.

> "But [fauxcest] faded out in the 90s," Dillon says, in part because incest stories are based on relationships between characters, and narrative in porn started to fade out of fashion. "I believe it went away in part because of the rise of B&B—big boobs and blonde hair. The 80s were the beginning of the glamorous porn superstars and contract studio stars. It led to many different genres of porn, many of which weren't story-driven."

> However, the past decade has seen a resurgence in narrative porn, setting the stage for a fauxcest comeback. "We've revisited a lot of older genres," Dillon says. "Parodies had their revival already, and now it's like producers and consumers are rediscovering the fauxcest genre, and it's back in style." Two years ago, adult studio Forbidden Fruit Films began exclusively featuring family role-play scenes. Millennial porn viewers—and especially women—have taken to the genre with a surprising appetite.

> Case in point: this week’s episode of Gossip Girl, which joins a long list of HBO series fascinated with family-on-family fucking with its plotline about a sister and brother going at it at a New York hotel. It’s certainly juicy. It’s definitely gross. And, let’s face it, it is a bizarre obsession. How is this still so prevalent?...

> Even more unforgivable, this was a wasted opportunity to get Kristen Bell in the voiceover booth and have her say some outrageously snarky line about incest. I was shocked to not hear the disembodied voice of Gossip Girl say something about brother-banging to cap off the episode.

> If we have to sit through the millionth incest plotline of the year, at least make it meme-worthy.

There you've it, HBO made a big mistake by not making the incest plot "meme-worthy"

Yeah, it’s crazy that they are cancelling/removing new seasons that already in the can.

> release a DVD/Blu Ray set

Given the removal of some shows from streaming services, physical media like Blu-ray might be popular again.

> but it's done filming

Like Batgirl & Minx?

> Breakdown

The late J. T. Walsh gave a great performance in the movie.

> Before Duel, the Oscar-less Spielberg was off working as a television director wunderkind. He spent his early 20s directing episodes for a number of shows, including The Night Gallery, Marcus Welby, M.D., and Columbo. Yet, he also made a number of short films and independent feature efforts to support his filmmaking aspirations. Working in the studio system for a few years at this point, Spielberg's name was often getting thrown around to potentially helm projects. One such instance was when a secretary gave him an original short story titled Duel from Richard Matheson. Advising him to apply to direct ABC's Movie of the Week adaptation, Spielberg took her advice and directed an absolute bang up, rollicking picture that used every bit of its resources to its max potential, and then some. The film was shot over the course of 13 days on a shoestring budget, so Spielberg didn't have too much to work with, yet he didn't need much — he's Spielberg! He makes anything great. If someone handed him an orange juice and a camera, he'd know how to make it badass. Though the original TV version of Duel came out to an approximate 70 minutes, the film was so well received and successful in its efforts that Spielberg shot 20 minutes worth of extra scenes in order to pad out the run time enough for a theatrical release.

> Duel has just about the simplest story one can imagine. On the way to a meeting with a client, mild-mannered David Mann (Dennis Weaver) passes a truck driver on an old desert highway, leading the truck driver to follow him and, eventually, try to kill him. We never actually see the truck driver, but you never need to because our villain is basically the shark from Jaws on wheels. Spielberg is already a master of elevating the cinematic language of his films beyond what others might shoot in a conventional manner. But with Duel having such a lean premise which other filmmakers might bring to life without much urgency, this couldn't be further from the case here for Spielberg. If you haven't seen Duel yet, just know you'll be watching one of the angriest films that the man has ever done. Every bit of Spielbergian filmmaking is told in a cut-throat, bone dry fashion. Without any flashy effects to lean into, he was given rapid fire editing and inventive camerawork to wow audiences with, and he does so like he's fighting for his life.

This week is going to be a bloodbath for media & entertainment companies.

Per Mediaite:

> Mediaite understands that today the layoffs mostly focus on paid contributors. It’s been known around the network that Licht is more interested in subject-specific experts less than broad generalists, which will be reflected in today’s cuts. Tomorrow, salaried employees will be told and some relatively visible names from behind the scenes are expected to hear bad news also.

Amazon closed its acquisition of MGM in March.

> Seems odd this isn't on Prime if MGM+ is a thing.

Yeah, MGM+, formerly known as Epix, should have been part of Prime, not a separate service. This comes off as double dipping.

> MGM+, the premium cable network and streamer currently known as Epix, has landed domestic rights to Damian Lewis drama 'A Spy Among Friends' after the series was to have aired as a Spectrum original.

> The six-episode series that reunites the Billions star with his former Homeland exec producer Alexander Cary was among the programs that were left without a home after Charter shut down its Spectrum Originals banner following the departure of exec Katherine Pope.

> Created by Cary, Spy is based on the New York Times best-selling book by Ben Macintyre. The series, produced by Sony and BritBox parent ITV Studios and Veritas Entertainment Group, revolves around the defection of a British intelligence officer and KGB double agent (Guy Pearce, who replaced Dominic West, who was originally in talks for the part) and his relationship with an MI6 friend and colleague (Lewis). The role marks Lewis’ follow-up to Showtime’s Billions. Cary, Patrick Spence, Nick Murphy, Chrissy Skinns, Bob Bookman, Alan Gasmer, Peter Jaysen and Lewis exec produce.

> The series was originally supposed debut this fall first domestically on Spectrum Originals and then to stream on ITVX (which includes the former BritBox). It will launch first on ITVX starting Dec. 8 and then at a date to be determined on MGM+ in 2023.

He was a member of Disney's board and the largest shareholder as well.

I think that Maura has created a multi-layer simulation system.

Given that the father’s world is not affected by the 1899 simulation shutdown/loops/virus, that he retains his memories & more importantly control the 1899 simulation, I think that points out to a second and higher level in the program.