Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, February 4th, 2025:

PRODUCTION NOTES
Thanks to Oliver Darcy for the nice mention in his Status newsletter last night. I also spoke with a reporter at The Guardian today about the impact of political pressures on Hollywood productions, for a story that will hopefully be out soon. Just a reminder that I am always open to be interviewed or appear on a podcast to discuss anything TV or media-related.

Also, why today's newsletter is uncharacteristically cranky, I have a bunch of reviews posting today and tomorrow, and I'll link to those in tomorrow's newsletter. The reviews include Apple Cider Vinegar (Netflix), Clean Slate (Prime Video), The Åre Murders (Netflix), The Takedown: American Aryans (Max) and The Z-Suite (Tubi). I could have posted my Clean Slate review today, but for some reason thought the review embargo lifted when it premiered, instead of this morning. 

And while I'm writing this, I'm listening to a Spotify playlist I put together called "I Don't Speak French," which is comprised of French-language pop-rock tunes I really enjoy. Even though I have no clue what they're saying.

HULU LIVE TV IS TRYING TO KILL ME
I have had a subscription to at least one virtual cable provider since they launched more than a decade ago. Usually I have one I use with my family as our main live TV provider. And then I'll regularly cycle through rival platforms to see what they have to offer. To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact that my son is a sports fanatic and I cover cable TV news, I'd be fine with smaller live bundles such as Philo or Frndly.

But those options don't work for my home situation, so since the under-appreciated Playstation Vue shut down in 2020, my default live TV choice has been Hulu TV Live. And I won't even say it's a "love/hate" relationship. It's a "don't mind/want to break my TV" situation that manages to inject much more frustration into my life than a guy with a weak heart should be made to endure.

I write a lot about the UI's of various streamers, and while the content discovery on Amazon Prime Video feels like it was designed by drunken chimps, at least when I find something, I can watch it seamlessly. Hulu Live TV has an irritating series of bugs, quirks and random problems that lead me to wonder why I keep subscribing. The answer is that the current bundle with Hulu Live TV/Disney+/ESPN+ provides the mix of programming that works for me. But everything else....what is the technical industry term? Sucks.

Hulu Live TV has some issues that based on complaints on its customer service message boards have been going on for YEARS. The service's DVR randomly decides that it is going to keep recording episode (s) of a show that I once asked it to record years ago. And no matter how many times I go in and flick the record switch on the episode to "off," Hulu Live TV's software apparently decides I must not be serious. So I'll go into the "my recordings" que and there will not just the shows I wanted to record, but random episodes of The Neighborhood & American Ninja Warrior. Hulu support folks have described it to me as a "known issue" and suggested the best way to correct the problem is to delete my profile. Which works until you begin to record programs on the new profile and then zombie episodes of different shows will begin to accumulate. 

And speaking of "my recordings," it has recently begun to disappear from my profile. I'll go in to watch some show I've created and not only is the show not available, the entire DVR section has just evaporated and no longer exists. I discovered my accident that I can go into my wife's profile, open her recordings, exit back into my profile and my recordings will now be available. 

And then there are the UI annoyances. The top horizontal promo section is "Live Now," and while all of the choices are indeed live, they are almost always uniformly useless. The left-hand thumbnail is generally the last live network I watched. But everything else feels as if the software decided to populate the section with networks I would never watch under any circumstance. Big 10 Network. Vevo Beach Music. Holy Marvels With Dennis Quaid. I could go on and on.

But what broke me today was one of Hulu's random glitches that ended up having my heart pounding like one of those cartoon hearts from a Looney Tunes feature. I had watched something on Hulu early this morning with no problem. But when I tried to sign in this afternoon with my Roku, I was told I needed to sign back in. And did as was suggested, and went on to my computer to activate. When I navigated to Hulu.com, this window popped up:



This is what I saw after entering my email address. Which to be clear, is the one attached to my account (I checked). And you might note that despite what the text says, I was NOT prompted to create a new account. I couldn't get past this page.

So I did what I have learned to do over the years and stubbornly wait it out. And a couple of hours later, I fired up Hulu Live TV and everything was back to normal.

To be clear, the fine folks at Hulu know they have technology issues. I've talked to engineers and product managers there a few times and I know there have been several efforts over the years to update the tech stack. But what Hulu needs is a complete reboot of its back end and there has always been a reason to put that off. It's expensive and people kept waiting internally to see if Disney was going to keep Hulu Live TV at all, or combine it somehow with Disney+. So I am now five years into the most irritating relationship I've ever had. And given the women I was dating in my twenties, that is setting a high bar for irritation.

Disney CEO Bob Iger also understands the company has a streaming UI/UX issue it needs to fix. In this morning's conference call with investors and the press, he mentioned several times that Disney's tech needs to be fixed and the company hired a new engineer from Meta last week.

Thanks for listening. I don't generally just rant in these newsletters. But I am reasonably sure I am not the only person having these challenges from Hulu Live TV.



FROM ALLYOURSCREENS TODAY
* Based on a true story, Toxic Town is a four-episode limited series is "the story of the people at the heart of the Corby poisonings, one of the UK's biggest environmental scandals. Focusing on the mothers, who took on a David and Goliath battle for justice, the series traces through the years of their fight as a terrible truth comes to the surface." It stars Jodie Whittaker and will premiere Thursday, February 27th on Netflix. Here is a video first look at the series, as well as some images to hold you over until then.

* The film Summer Of '69 is about "an awkward high school senior who hires an exotic dancer to help seduce her longtime crush before graduation, leading to unexpected friendship and lessons in self-confidence, acceptance, and adulthood." It is set to make its world premiere at SXSW this March and will be available on Hulu later this year. Here is a first look at some images from the movie.

* My mother-in-law will be happy to learn that the newest season of Murdoch Mysteries (technically season eighteen B) is premiering Monday, February 10th on Acorn TV. Here is a photo gallery of images from the season.

* The TNT Sports and HBO Original sports documentary We Beat The Dream Team premieres Monday, February 17th on HBO. Here is the logline: The little-known story of a group of college basketball players who were tasked with preparing Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan and the rest of the legendary "Dream Team" for their Olympic debut in 1992. In an unexpected twist, the college team, which featured Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Bobby Hurley, Jamal Mashburn, Allan Houston, Rodney Rogers, and Eric Montross, shocked the NBA superstars by defeating them in a scrimmage – an outcome that ultimately helped propel the Dream Team to gold. Here is a first video look at the special.

ANOTHER PROFILE IN COURAGE
Today, Donald Trump signed an executive order banning banning transgender athletes from women’s sports. And school that doesn't follow the ban runs the risk of losing federal funding.

This evening, the NCAA issued this statement, reversing the current policy which allows transgender athletes to compete in women sports in some limited situations.



ODDS AND SODS
* Apple TV+ just announced the new eight-episode song battle series KPOPPED from executive producer Lionel Richie? I mean, he's a talented guy, but this is a bit like having Meghan Trainer produce Battle Of The Death Metal Bands. According to the streamer, the show will include "PSY, the international chart-topper who helped bring K-pop to the world with his global sensation "Gangnam Style,” and three-time, Grammy award-winning superstar and executive producer Megan Thee Stallion. In each episode, western icons reimagine one of their biggest hits, collaborating with top-tier K-pop idols to deliver spectacular battle performances, with a live Seoul-based audience picking the winner of the best new K-popped song."

* The Verge has nearly cornered the market on really dumb hot takes on Netflix. Today, the argument is that "The End Of 'Squid Games' And 'Stranger Things' Solidifies Netflix's New Era." I almost hate pointing it out, because you feel your IQ dropping as you read it.

* HGTV has renewed Love It or List It for a new season with Page Turner replacing longtime co-host Hilary Farr.

TWEET OF THE DAY



WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH, 2025:
Celebrity Bear Hunt Series (Netflix)
Envious (Netflix)
Kinda Pregnant (Netflix)
Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan's Fight To Beat Cancer (ABC)
Love You To Death (A muerte) (Apple TV+)
Prison Cell 211 (Netflix)
Re:ZERO -Starting Life In Another World- (Crunchyroll)
Sintonia Season Premiere (Netflix)
Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Funniest Of All-Time (CBS)
Wild Cards Season Two Premiere (The CW)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH, 2025:
Apple Cider Vinegar Series Premiere (Netflix)
Cassandra (Netflix)
Clean Slate (Prime Video)
Death Without Mercy (Paramount+)
Invincible Season Three Premiere (Prime Video)
Sweet Magnolias Season Premiere (Netflix)
The Åre Murders (Netflix)
The Kardashians Season Premiere (Hulu)
The Takedown: American Aryans (Max) 
The Z-Suite Series Premiere (Tubi) 

SEE YOU ON THURSDAY!