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Entertainment

Thoughts on ABC picking up another comedy project on Do You Want Kids? from Rachel Bloom & Dan Gregor even though it’s set under single-camera

by Sports Benches

A few weeks after ABC announced their first recent in-development project beginning with the next year-long cycle for comedy named Sisters-In-Law, they’ve picked up another one earlier today from the husband & wife duo of Dan Gregor and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex Girlfriend star on The CW) – it’s Do You Want Kids? 

They will both be writing and executive producing together with Bloom also set to be the leading cast member herself. Not only that they were fortunate enough to have 20th Television onboard who just merged with ABC Signature a few weeks ago under the one roof as one of their own studio members Steve Levitan will help them oversee this next exciting project.

This plot is about a married couple who in one universe has a baby while the other does not have a baby. According to Dan via Twitter now X post today, he and his wife is writing this next TV comedy project together about their young daughter & how will this impact their lives – which is what we’re about to see should “Do You Want Kids?” be developed into a pilot and maybe a series run at some point. 

So pretty much this is loosely based on themselves & thejr current lives as young parents alongside their child of one.

Interesting and what’s also interesting is that it will be under a single-camera format — despite ABC’s desire to have more new half-hour shots that is more affordable in front of a studio audience, which is the multi-camera stuff as if you’re staging theatre for TV.

First of all, don’t see Abbott Elementary on the axe at all when they’ve been the network’s strong sitcom performer since its inception back in December 2021. If and when the show does end, Quinta Brunson will be the first person to make this announcement. Although if ABC wishes to make one more room for single-camera content on top of Abbott, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea though if they really want to fill up their Wednesday comedy slate like it was in the past.

They haven’t had any brand new comedy shows since Not Dead Yet (also a single-can sitcom & now gone after two seasons) made their debut earlier last year and then the strikes happened up until October 2023, with Tim Allen’s brand new multi-camera sitcom Shifting Gears set to begin its full season filming not too long from now that is expected to arrive on the air by February 2025.

For now, fingers crossed if “Do You Want Kids?” will make it into pilot around the same time that could hopefully be given an extended run for the next Fall or even mid-season block either late next year or early 2026.

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Thoughts on General Hospital finally coming back in Australia starting on January 1st 2025 with Network 10 to air episodes online

by Sports Benches

I didn’t know this day would come for General Hospital to air in Australia again and finally they will thanks to Network 10 who will be bringing the episodes to us online on-demand starting on Wednesday January 1st 2025. 

This is a show I personally enjoyed for years and still doing so today every time it comes out up-to-date online like YouTube and Dailymotion, even though the pictures we see may not have the best quality but still better than nothing though.

Yes, when 2025 arrives on January 1st, 10 will be able to make all other previous Season 62 episodes from early September to end of December 2024 available on demand, with new episodes coming in as they go from the original US broadcast. It remains to be seen though whether or not if the new episodes will be a few days old or same day as the original airings from USA (ABC) and Canada (CityTV).

I’m hoping it’s the latter but considering the show hasn’t aired in quite a long time, so maybe a few days old is where 10 will start with minimal risk & if that goes well at some point, then yes! Definitely same day episodes 100%. We’ll wait and see.

Other than that, I’ve been pushing so hard to have GH finally have it aired legally again in Australia where this show still has a knack of great fun while they have a good representation of Australian actors/actresses, as well as other actors/actresses who went on to become Hollywood and Prime-Time stars. 

But remember, GH is not on the same popularity when it comes to International interest & even Australian viewers on the TV alike too compared to Bold and The Beautiful & The Young and The Restless.

Although I probably like to give a shoutout to Neighbours who is still going strong and when they returned on the air last year also thanks to Amazon, love how they quickly formed a great connection with the US viewers and some of the Neighbours cast/staff even went to the Daytime Emmy awards too – not sure it was June this year or the delayed last year one (December).

I’m pretty sure both the network and the country’s strong history of soaps would be the key reason why they would like to try GH, having been content airing first-run episodes of Y & R and Days on 10 Play from earlier this year after the show’s previous contracts with Foxtel via Sony Television Studios & Corday Productions was expired.

Here’s hoping GH will go well this time on 10 online in Australia with the potential of same-day US episodes in the long run soon enough from the minute they air new episodes in 2025. For now, will still be catching up same-day US episodes online as said earlier above. Although if there’s something I want to look back, then definitely will go to 10 Play – another plus we don’t have unlike Canada’s CityTV & ABC’s Hulu at the moment unless you want to look at certain ship couples’ clips of course!

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Thoughts on Project Runway moving to Disney’s Freeform from Bravo next year 

by Sports Benches

Earlier this week, Freeform finally made a major update as it’s nothing to do with their original scripted slate which ran out earlier this year. However, they’ve added yet another reality TV show having kept Project Runway alive from Bravo thanks to a deal struck with Spyglass Media Group (who owns the show’s studio property).

We don’t know when this will be next on air going into Season 21 sometime in 2025 but what we do know that its judges and host will look brand new, so none of them from the Bravo and even Lifetime versions will pop up on Freeform. So does the contestants itself where aspiring fashion designers (both male and female including the fashion models) will also be teen-oriented that will fit best on a cable channel that already has a teen and female dominated audience. 

No surprise there when Freeform is trying to fill up some air time trying to be like the USA Network (although USA recently picked up 1-2 new scripted shows though), but also a surprise too for those who have been watching Project Runway for so long.

Yes, the continued Project Runway show will also show up on Disney + and Hulu which is an also a plus when it comes to on-demand content. But the question still remains as to whether or not if Freeform will last that long as a cable channel when the Bravo (two stints) and the Lifetime versions usually last more than a few years? They’re happy with the seasonal marathon specials like 31 Days of Halloween right now & 25 Days of Christmas as well as the 1-2 weekly syndicated blocks while still having to carry a “lifetime” contract with the 700 Club since Freeform is currently homeowner on a property The 700 Club has built that goes back to the 70s-90s.

But seeing how ABC Signature was morphed into 20th Televlsion at the start of this month with streaming also still on the rise, it would still be no surprise if Disney shuts down or sells off Freeform while paying off 700 the $$$ they want.

Maybe Lifetime should’ve come back in the first place since they’re part of the Disney family thanks to A & E Networks and Hearst, but you never know though as maybe FX or FXX would be the perfect cable channel for all things reality and entertainment, as Project Runway would be a great match for them if Freeform is gone within the next 12 months – keep a close eye on this one.

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Top Gear Australia’s 2024 revival has arrived on 10 after all – a few months from its original screening on Paramount +

by Sports Benches

We thought this latest Top Gear Australia revival by Network 10’s paid streaming service Paramount + wouldn’t get a second free-to-air window as last said earlier this yea,  but it’s now on the main free-to-air channel after all as just premiered tonight – a months later from its original first-run Paramount + screening (May). It remains to be seen if TGA will be given on-demand access on 10 Play for those who didn’t get to watch this tonight.

The only difference 10 viewers will get on Top Gear Australia is a series of commercial breaks in each episode that goes up to 90 minutes, which is the same length we get from the original UK Top Gear episodes as it was before when these UK episodes last aired on Nine.

Everything else you will see isn’t that much with dedicated motoring redhead like Blair “Moog” Joscelyne reviewing performance-road cars in a similar way Chris Harris does for the UK show. 

Alongside him is a former professional athlete & an entertainer competing in challenges with Moog alongside Beau Ryan and Jonathan LaPaglia much like how the UK last had former England all-round cricketer Andrew Flintoff & comedian/presenter Paddy McGuiness.

Also, the car they use when they bring in celebrity guests to drive around the race track is the Subaru BRZ compact sports car coupe whose identical twin Toyota 86 was last used on the UK show. And lastly, don’t know where that new race track is as it’s not the Camden Airport airfield that the original Top Gear Australia version used on SBS (Season 1 & 2) and later Nine (Seasons 3 & 4) a long time ago. But what we do know that this latest studio building is filmed in Sydney’s Cockatoo Island.

Fingers crossed to see what the ratings will be like on 10 as we don’t know if Top Gear Australia will be back for 2025.  

Yes, the original UK show is currently not on air with Season 34 already cancelled midway through production following Freddie Flintoff’s freak crash two years ago. However, it looks like they had run its course unfortunately as this show no longer has the same popularity they once had before when Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May left back in 2015-16. The show’s website may still live on but time will tell if TGA has unfinished business that would reflect well on Paramount +’s investment via 10. 

In the meantime, October has been living large with these first-run streaming shows now popping up on free-to-air – with Nine currently showing Bali 2002 (two episodes done with Episode 3 to come on Monday) & Ten doing the same with Top Gear Australia (1 done with 7 weeks to go).

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Thoughts on ABC Network making late changes to their Monday prime-time and Wednesday 10pm Fall line-up with more MNF & everything else will be aired mid-season

by Sports Benches

Looks like ABC has made some immediate changes to their Monday and Wednesday prime-time line up with more Monday Night Football simulcasts alongside ESPN & everything else including its previously announced Monday night game show slate (Celebrity Wheel of Fortune – Pat Sajak’s last season as host & Press Your Luck) will be postponed to early 2025.

So does that docuseries Scamanda (based on last year’s podcast), even though it was originally set to premiere next week (Wednesdays 10pm). Instead, viewers will see another ABC News program called What Would You Do? – which is currently a social experiment program where each scenario is done behind a hidden camera with paid actors/actresses.

And last but not least, still no premiere date for new multi-cam sitcom Shifting Gears led by Tim Allen as well as the revival of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Rest assured though that these shows is still expected to turn up at mid-season, so stay tuned over the next 1-2 months before we say goodbye to 2024.

It’s been a bit of a surprise really when ABC had some trouble fitting in their weekly prime-time schedule as of late, particularly a few weeks into the fall cycle right now. Maybe they would want to play it safe by bringing in a another full season of Monday Night Football like they did last year due to the Hollywood strikes when there wasn’t enough scripted programming to air at the time considering its their domain as it once was a long time ago (1970-2005) while management is still trying to figure out which specific content that could be their best bet going into the 2025-26 season.

I guess Grey’s Anatomy or even one of the other Ryan Murphy shows can move there for sure, but then some weeks though is still attached to MNF as ESPN originally agreed with their latest contract extension a few years ago that will go on until at least 2033. So probably Grey’s would be the best fit as if The Good Doctor or other flagship ABC scripted show needs some room to fill late on a Monday night when a brand new 9-1-1 spin-off (not the Lone Star one) will most likely complete a full Thursday line-up alongside 9-1-1 and Doctor Odyssey if ordered into series.

Also on that Scamanda docuseries, again, same bit of surprises after they had their first trailer lately only days before the originally scheduled premiere date. But I guess ABC News have been pretty busy at the same time as well, especially with the US Presidential Election coming up in a few weeks. This is about Amanda Riley faking cancer before she was later caught by police & is currently serving two years out of five-year prison sentence in Jail. 

A lot of ABC News produced content on the main channel usually come out at the mid-season mark anyway, so don’t think Scamanda will suddenly won’t make it into air after all when these true stories deserved to be told to the wider audience.

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Bali 2002 four-part mini TV drama series finally arrived on Nine & 9Now tonight – two years from its original premiere via Stan

by Sports Benches

It’s been two years since the Bali 2002 mini drama series was originally released on Nine’s paid streaming platform Stan & you can still see the 4 x hour-long episodes right now on-demand. In the meantime, the free-to-air airing has finally just arrived on the Nine Network to finish off the Labor Day public holiday – depending on which state you currently live in tonight – when other countries like ITV in the UK and New Zealand’s TVNZ have already aired this for free early last year.

This plot is based on the events from the actual Bali 2002 bombings that affects not just the locals but also the visiting Aussies who stop by as their biggest holiday hot spot every year where 88 visitors unfortunately lost their lives, 22 years ago. 

Not sure if we will get to see some on-demand content on 9Now after this 1st episode at 10pm but 9pm Mondays would now be the time throughout this month (over the next three weeks) if you wish to follow the whole story from start to finish. They also had a huge cast with the likes of Saskia Archer, Sophia Forrest (the daughter of Andrew Forrest), Claudia Jessie, William Lodder, Rachel Griffiths, Richard Roxburgh and Sean Keenan. 

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Thoughts on ABC considering a new 9-1-1 spin-off to complete a whole Thursday night line-up full of Ryan Murphy and what does it mean for Grey’s Anatomy?

by Sports Benches

It’s been a huge week in the office at Disney and ABC that began with the demise of ABC’s studio arm ABC Signature which was merged with 20th Television the other day & now they’re set to give more air time to Ryan Murphy, who currently has 9-1-1 & the new Doctor Odyssey drama going on between 8-10pm Thursdays, with the possibility of a new 9-1-1 spin off going into the 25/26 season.

Now it won’t be 9-1-1 Lone Star from Austin, Texas in which Murphy chose to run its course after five seasons on Fox, even though the main franchise did make its move to ABC earlier this year that began with Season 7.

However, he could look at Las Vegas with a script already written as the next 9-1-1 spin-off destination where we could see more emergency responses to places they’ve got on offer. All of this in the early development stages right now but considering how much air time Disney is buying off him that extends to FX, it wouldn’t be a surprise if that new 9-1-1 show would make it on ABC without the need of a pilot. Although they can go make a 9-1-1 episode with a backdoor pilot on it by introducing the cast from that new show; but again, too early to tell unless ABC has given them the all clear.

If that 9-1-1 spin-off did make it to ABC next Fall, it would definitely be on Thursday night to complete a full night of Ryan Murphy shows (9-1-1, 9-1-1 new spin-off and Doctor Odyssey). With Doctor Odyssey, the ratings and feedback may be been up and down as seen during the pilot episode unlike the network’s other new drama High Potential. But then his shows usually have a slow and steady following when it comes to the plot/storyline, so don’t think Doctor Odyssey would be heading out the door that fast unless ABC says so after 9-10 episodes (probably enough to finish Season 1 since a few others will take over at mid-season).

So what does it mean for Grey’s Anatomy? If they stay on for Season 22, they will get a whole new studio production control under 20th Television rather than Touchstone/ABC Studios/ABC Signature after two long decades. Would we see them move to another night if Ryan Murphy took over whole of Thursdays? It depends. Maybe they could go back to Sunday nights where it all began for the first two seasons before being a huge mainstay for Thursdays for many years.

If not, they might as well begin from mid-season like we currently see with Family Guy from FOX who usually begin their seasons right from the start of Fall but this upcoming season though will see them begin around January to February 2025.

So there’s a possibility Grey’s could either get another shortened season or else move back to Sundays or even another earlier weekday time slot (see Dancing With the Stars when they were on Mondays for a long time but now on Tuesdays) unless Doctor Odyssey flops and then gets the axe to keep their Thursday time slot – that’s the bottom line.

Hoping Grey’s can stay on as long as they can possibly can, having been a fan of the long-running medical drama every now and then. For now, looks like Ryan Murphy’s relationship with Disney is growing even further – this time with ABC to build a strong Thursday line-up that their viewers can enjoy and stay up between 8-11pm before 30 mins of local news time. 

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Thoughts on ABC Signature now becoming 20th Television as of today

by Sports Benches

Today we saw a huge change within ABC and Disney having recently found out that they won’t change the ABC Signature logo & its on-air ident — despite wearing the current on-air bug since its last update for a few years now. Instead, ABC Signature will now be merged under 20th Television effective immediately to kickstart the new month of October.

So will we continue to see tonight’s episode of High Potential and Jimmy Kimmel Live as well as Thursday’s nights episode of Grey’s Anatomy and also future episodes of The Rookie in early 2025 being an ABC Signature production? 

Don’t know but I assume probably that will continue at least during the short term until the end of their respective contracted season in around May 2025, so that would be yes. Then depending on their series renewal for 2025-26, we will definitely see those shows being relocated under 20th TV’s production but it will still be on ABC.

Not everyone will notice about the on-screen changes very quickly since this season’s ABC Signature slate of scripted/unscripted shows have either already been wrapped up or currently midway through production.

Yeah, no surprise to see this coming when ABC Signature chose not to get their logo/on-air ident updated despite the network’s logo change a few years ago. However, we know the Fox-Disney merger was of course behind this when it comes to the studio production side of things. Now this makes sense for ABC Signature to farewell after a decades-long run (that began with Touchstone TV followed by ABC Studios and then ABC Signature over these past few years) by joining sister subsidiary 20th Television that will make one studio arm a whole lot bigger & also effective all under the one roof. Also sending out thoughts to some staff impacted by the merger with some leaving while some will get new roles at 20th TV.

What’s next now? Shutting down/selling up Freeform – one of Disney’s basic cable general entertainment channels. The only things they’re doing right now is having a bunch of reality stuff on air alongside some syndicated repeats and some annual year TV show or movie themed marathons other than having to fulfil a lifelong content agreement with The 700 Club after they ran out all of their own scripted programming earlier this year. 

Not even While You Were Breeding would count when they weren’t there on any of their recent schedules when Freeform decided not to put them on the air one year ago despite wrapping up production. They said that they no longer fit network programming strategy for comedy or other original scripted slate at any kind but then the issue were more like Freeform being on its last legs as a network. 

We still haven’t heard back or what will happen with Freeform’s two in-development projects though like horror drama Night’s Edge and a High School teen drama Rush. I guess they might be Hulu or FX/FXX projects after all should Freeform be the next to go from now.

This is something to keep an eye on over the next coming months or sometime in 2025 with more and more paying TV subscribers tuning in from their devices like Netflix, Disney + & Max.

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Grey’s Anatomy Season 21, Episode 1 “If Walls Could Talk”

by Admin

Grey’s Anatomy has returned with its 21st season. The longest medical drama in history just breaks ground on another round of medical crisis laced with emotional ruminations, hospital politics, and interpersonal drama. 

The premiere episode is directed by longtime guest player Debbie Allen. We pick up where the last season left off. Our anchor characters, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Bailey (Chandra Wilson), are out of their jobs at Grey Sloan Memorial after being sacked by Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) – Mer over her illegal research, Bailey after coming to her intern’s defense. 

With such massive changes in the hospital, the doctors must keep going. The premiere episode sees the usual retinue of dramatic patients: protester falling off the sky into the windshield of a car driven by a minor, an injured radical activist crawling through the vent to evade police. It’s just another day at Grey Sloan Memorial. 

No longer the chief at Grey Sloan, Bailey tries to play it cool and busy herself at her clinic, but she cannot help it when her former residents come calling for aid. Meanwhile, Mer is in legal trouble with Catherine for her unauthorized Alzheimer’s research. Jackson Avery (returning fan favorite Jesse Williams) comes back to mediate the situation, but by now we already know these ladies ain’t gonna make it easy. 

Things take a surprising turn when Meredith finds Catherine collapsed at her office. It turns out that she has a spinal tumor and warns Mer against telling Jackson and Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr).

Soapy drama is always at the center of Grey’s Anatomy. And it continues to deliver exactly that for its loyal audiences. The novelty has worn off a long time ago (probably around the time they got Lexie Grey killed while trapped under an airplane), but the show consistently knows what audiences want from it. As usual, the hot blooded young interns serve up the relationship drama. This season, we have Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis) and Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane)’s budding romance, while Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd) faces uncertainty as Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) must make the choice between leaving or staying to repeat his first year. These storylines do not have quite the same bite as the heydays of MerDer or the Alex-Izzie-George love triangle, but they remain on brand: push and pull chemistry, denial, misdirection, sexual tension. 

At this point, Grey’s has an established playbook that people will latch on to for as long as possible. The banters remain heated, the music remains stirring, the scenario as loopy but heartwarmingly wrapped as always. It does feel same old, same old, but Grey’s Anatomy is an establishment now – people tune in out of habit. Those yearning for some spice might no longer be satiated, but as long as the formula sticks, it’s a comfort food that people keep coming back to.  

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Looking back at the debut of Doctor Odyssey on ABC starring Joshua Jackson, Phillipa Soo, Sean Teale & Don Johnson on a cruise ship

by Sports Benches

Following High Potential last week, Dr. Odyssey had their turn on the biggest stage as the next newest ABC drama to arrive earlier today. The next future ABC dramas will have to wait until sometime next year or in 12 months time depending on other series renewals since Will Trent & The Rookie will take over mid-season.

Now it’s been quite a long introduction from the start, but at least there was a bit of fun like that breakdancing scene & Joshua Jackson’s Max love interest with Phillipa Soo’s Avery right in between rescuing a bunch of patients around this cruise ship. Speaking of that breakdancing scene, didn’t know Rachel Dratch – who portrayed Rachel Gunn aka Raygun (Aussie Olympic breakdancer who competed in last month’s Paris 2024) on Jimmy Fallon’s late night talk show last month – was actually there as one of the guest stars in this pilot episode. 

But then she played in a totally different scene though as the wife of that patient whose husband got hit in the neck after she came off the slide at the pool. Glad he’s okay though thanks to Max & his small medical team as sure they had one hell of blast & will of course be back with more fun surprises on deck next time.

Other than that, things will have to take time with a couple more episodes before Season 1 is done (probably until the end of this year) where the feedback of this episode plot here has been mixed of both good and bad compared to High Potential’s debut which received lots of good reviews.

Remember this is a straight-to-series order thanks to the creators of 9-1-1’s Ryan Murphy following 9-1-1’s successful move to ABC during its shortened prime-time TV season earlier this year when most of 2023 were held up for the most part due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes & ABC thought Dr. Odyssey would be the perfect replacement for the departed Station 19.

Yes, episode 2 called “Singles Week” is set to spice things up next Thursday at 9pm but will this be enough though to warrant a Season 2 renewal? We shall wait and see as this is bit like a reality show but full of scripted cast and storylines with no host.

Other than that, it’s great to see Joshua back on-screen whose character is great against all odds. So does Sean Teale who shares a mix of humor and in-action rivalry alongside Jackson’s character as the third wheel (Tristan Silva) to both Jackson and Soo’s IT on-air couple with Don Johnson (Captain Robert Massey) getting to steer this cruise ship even in the toughest of circumstances.

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