It’s been about a week since the ATX Television festival started, and I have SO much to talk about!!
I’ve been to this festival twice in the past so this was my third year going, and their eighth year putting it on. I just happen to be lucky enough to live in Austin Texas where it was all taking place. Every one that I met for the most part had flown in from other parts of the country. This was also the first time witnessing a couple actual fan freak outs (like this one guy that was so in love with Zendaya he ran up to the microphone after the premiere of the first episode of HBO’s Euphoria and begged her to go on an ice cream date with him). Don’t get me wrong, I had my own fan freak outs, I just have them more internally.
Anyway, there was a LOT of great stuff on the schedule for this year, I was able to go to about half of what I wanted to go to, which was a big improvement from previous years when I only had time for a couple of panels (one of them being the Battlestar Galactica panel which was epic).
Let’s recap with one of the first events I attended by The Hollywood Reporter TV’s Top 5. They did a live podcast recording where they go through the latest TV news of the week.
Main takeaways:
Sneaky Pete has been canceled (I loved this show but would have to rewatch to really remember it since it’s been so long)
Amazon has picked up the idea for a Lord of the Rings series. Let me geek out for a second. I saw the first LOTR 13 times in theaters when it first came out. I even traveled to New Zealand in 7th grade to see the filming locations. I also met Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) and got his autograph. I was so obsessed with Legolas (Orlando Bloom) that I had a life-size standup of him in my room. Okay, moving on…It cost them $250 MILLION to get the show rights alone. Well that’s what I have written down in my notes at least…don’t quote me on that. Just know it was a TON. What they’ll do with it? We really don’t know yet, it’s still in the works..
Syfy has been canceling a lot of shows recently, and weirdly enough taking on shows that aren’t even Syfy. What they recently didn’t pick up was the pilot for Tremors (which I got to watch, more on that below). So I’m mad at Syfy because I really enjoyed Tremors. But not so mad that I’ll stop watching, because I’m obsessed with their show, The Magicians. Watch it. It’s like Harry Potter for grownups and very dark.
Warner Media is a new streaming service that will be launching later this year that will probably take over a ton of shows that they own the rights to, like The Office. So expect to see that leaving Netflix at some point, and get your binging in now.
NBC has tried to nurture lower rated shows like Good Girls (great show) and The Village (a similar family feel type of show like This is Us). For some reason, the Village just didn’t resonate in the same way that This is Us did. They think that This is Us came during a time when there weren’t a lot of family dramas out there and a time when the country was looking for something more hopeful. Either way, seriously watch both because they’re so good!
They talked about the show Designated Survivor (I’ve seen the first couple of seasons because I needed more Jack Bauer in my life). This show has had 3 seasons, 2 platforms, and 5 show runners. That’s crazy!! It’s unbelievable how much shows can change and evolve over time.
And finally, another fan freakout. One guy stood up and wanted to announce that he was THE person that was responsible for the Veronica Mars revival, that he petitioned in Los Angeles, protested in the streets, etc. I’m sorry but I don’t think I’d ever get to that level of obsession (ignore previous Lord of the Rings reference), but I applaud him for his passion.
Next up on recaps: HBO’s premiere of Euphoria with Zendaya as the main character.