Times Have Changed, TV Land Admits

Michael Hedges June 10, 2020 Follow on Twitter

Almost everybody who expounds on anything has a thought or twelve about how everything has changed. Others more factually challenged harped on the sure bet of getting back to normal. And then there was "new normal," slowly being defined by the same folks who emblazoned the old normal. TV Land is scouring the mountains and fields for clues. The advertising people are practicing yoga, alone.

The video on demand services saw huge increases in users and subscribers as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world. Great masses were stuck at home, no longer teaming at theme parks, restaurants, shopping malls or, even, offices. Schools have been closed, kids just getting back to class now right before the holiday break. Great amounts of time have been filled watching television.

As the news became more and more bleak - and less suitable for children - TV Land weighed their options. WarnerMedia, subsidiary of telecom AT&T, rolled out subscription video on demand (SVoD) service HBO Max in the US inconveniently at the end of May. This had been planned for months. The service will not be available elsewhere until next year, if ever.

HBO’s biggest draw, heretofore, has been the fantasy-dystopia drama Game Of Thrones. It’s last season would up with something of a whimper last fall. Still, it was expected to be a big for the HBO Max grand opening. There were discounts. Alas, the big draw in the opening weeks, according to Bloomberg (June 4), was Looney Tunes Cartoons, a new series created from old animated favorites. Think: Bugs Bunny. Some observers heralded a success for “family-friendly” fare. Others noted that at-home parents had parked at-home kids in front of the screen. Mostly likely, though, is viewers with the TV on 12 hours a day wanted non-stop escape without the growling and grunting. Another big success for HBO Max was Not-So-Late Show With Elmo, a takeoff on late night TV with Sesame Street character Elmo.

Events of the moment, often passed over by TV Land executives, have caused several abrupt cancellations. Paramount Networks, subsidiary of ViacomCBS, whacked the long running series Cops with a blunt statement that “we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” reported Hollywood Reporter (June 9). The semi-scripted, semi-reality series has shown police officers chasing, arresting and hauling people away. It was never a police procedural like Hill Street Blues.

WarnerMedia “temporarily” pulled the 1939 multi-award winning film Gone With The Wind from HBO Max. The film is “a product of its time,” said the statement from HBO Max, “and depicts some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that have, unfortunately, been commonplace in American society.” The original version will return in the future “because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. If we are to create a more just, equitable and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge and understand our history.” Fans of the old Confederacy - and followers anew - have gone apoplectic, largely on Fox News.

The Walt Disney Company launched SVoD service Disney Plus across most of the world last November. Chairman Bob Iger informed one and all that Disney Plus would be family-friendly forever and ever and delayed his retirement to insure Disney Plus, obviously, has access to the full Disney catalogue, including Mickey Mouse. Disney Plus is widely available across the world. It’s marque series today is the science-fiction drama The Mandalorian. It also owns the Star Wars franchise.

Comedy series Little Britain was just booted from Netflix, BBC iPlayer and BritBox. “Times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer,” said a BBC spokesperson, quoted by Variety (June 9). Little Britain could be described as late 20th century British humor. Netflix had no comment on that cancellation or on the disappearing series of shows with Australian performer Chris Lilley that often disparaged indigenous people.

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