Welcome to the 226th episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.
Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
This week, we’re joined by Chris Keyser, the co-chair of the Writers Guild of America’s negotiating committee, to discuss the 100-day marker of the strike and what comes next. Plus Dan and I discuss the Emmys’ move to January and the odd situation of TV’s awards season as well as a busy week for Disney.
Here’s how the episode plays out:
1. Mailbag
As the strikes continue to impact dealmaking, we’re answering listener questions each week. This segment explores why shows made for streaming aren’t the answer to the broadcast networks’ fall season programming holes as well as overrated Emmy winners. If you have a question you’d like to hear us discuss in future episodes.
2. Strike Zone: Chris Keyser Interview
If you missed our edited and condensed interview with the co-chair of the WGA’s negotiating committee, tune in for the full 45-minute conversation about the state of the strike and what’s next.
3. Disney Earnings Takeaways
Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed plans for the Mouse House to crack down on password sharing as well as raise subscription rates for Disney+ and Hulu’s ad-free tiers, and attempted to smooth over his thoughts on striking writers and actors during a busy earnings call this week.
4. TCA winners
The Bear, Succession and…Mel Brooks (yes, really!) highlight the winners of the 39th annual Television Critics Association Awards. (What, you thought we’d cover the Teen Choice Awards?!)
5. Critic’s Corner
As usual, we end with Dan’s thoughts on this week’s new and returning series. In this episode, he weighs in on HBO’s Telemarketers and Netflix’s Painkiller.
‘TV’s Top 5’: WGA Negotiator on 100 Days of the Strike and a Path Forward
