Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, October 20th, 2025:
THERE IS NOTHING MORE AMERICAN THAN TRASH-TALKING YOUR NEW BOSS IN A GROUP TEXT
This is 2025, which means that when a new boss is hired - especially one with some baggage - there is only one reasonable response. Talk smack about them in a group text chain.
That certainly seems to be the response at CBS News, where a long-running group text chain comprised of what appears to be primarily CBS News employees have been dissecting every move of new boss Bari Weiss in that kind and nuanced way that you would expect to read from people who seem to have a near-existential fear of the changes that might be in store for the organization.
One of the participants in the chain shared approximately 130 messages, sent over a period of around four days last week. An examination of the messages revealed the likely identity of five of the 12 or some participants in the chain. I was able to get confirmation from two of those that the messages were real, but they declined to discuss the matter otherwise.
I'm not sharing screenshots of the messages, because they are a mix of complaints and observations about Weiss and her comments during meetings, interspersed with more mundane operational texts that are likely very personally identifiable.
But the Weiss-related texts cover a variety of subjects, including running commentaries during several of her calls:
"Y does the public not trust us? Barely, I cant help thinking U have your own answer to that."
"y does she keep asking us what we think. you're supposed to be the chosen leader. lead."
"I wish she would just say what she's thinking."
"idk, if we suck so bad, y does she keep pushing her FP stories on our air?"
"So our redemption with the public involves Jared fucking Kushner?"
"it just feels to me as if she's already making excuses 4 the future when she moves on"
Reading through the messages, most of the comments and snark feels like the type of comments you'd expect in any company that is undergoing a lot of uncertainty. But what struck me is that from what I can tell, these are people who love their jobs. They know changes need to be made to stay relevant. But there is a lot of concern that Weiss has her own agenda, and that comes first before the needs of CBS News.
My favorite comment in the thread is this one, which seems to perfectly capture the mood of the text chain:
"IDK, I think we could have fucked up this bad on our own."
If you have anything you'd like to share with me confidentially, contact me on Signal at allyourscreens.24 or via email at
HOW TV SHAPED MUSIC
Chris Dalla Riva writes the fascinating Substack Can't Get Much Higher and he has an interview with Mark Malkoff, who wrote the book Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan’s Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend. The book is a must-read if you're a fan of Johnny Carson or just late night talk shows and this exchange from their interview provides a good indication of why you need to order the book:
Let’s talk specifically about Johnny Carson and his relationship to music. As you note in the book, “Though music comes with the territory, it was a particularly strong interest of Johnny’s.” Throughout the book, you highlight many of Johnny’s favorite artists. Can you highlight some of them and speculate on why he was drawn to them?
He loved Buddy Rich. Johnny was an amateur drummer. He got to perform with him at some point and was like a little kid with his hero. When Buddy Rich died, it was one of the first times that Johnny lost it in front of the studio audience. He was devastated. He canceled all the shows for a week.
He also loved Joe Williams, Steve Lawrence, and Tony Bennett. Tony Bennett was actually on his very first show. Johnny also liked to sing. He would sometimes say he was a “frustrated singer.” He tried to sing in front of an audience in Vegas, and they started laughing. They thought it was a bit. They couldn’t accept him as anything other than comedian. A couple of months later, when he sang on the show, he had to explain to the audience that it was for real.
Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan’s Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend comes out on October 23rd and I highly recommend it.
And coincidentally, I spoke to Chris Dalla Riva last Friday about his new book, Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves, which comes out on November 13th. That interview will post later this week and I'll have an excerpt of it in the newsletter.
MARK RUFFALO TALKS 'TASK' AND THE POWER OF FAITH
HBO's Task had its season finale Sunday evening and on Saturday, series star Mark Ruffalo spoke with a few reporters about the finale and his thoughts on how his character changed over the course of the season. I don't want to share any spoilers here, given that many of you might not have seen the finale yet. But I thought this answer provides a lot of general clarity about what was going on in the show this season:
If Task were distilled into one moral question your character is forced to confront, what would that question be and how does it evolve over the season?
Mark Ruffalo: I would say, what is the function of true faith in society? Outside of virtue signaling or being performative. What does it really look like? And in faith you include empathy, you include compassion, you include forgiveness. You know, within the question of faith is just so much about how we rely on—not just about a God—but how we rely on each other as humanity. You know, what is the faith of humanity?
How do you deal with one of the major topics your character has to deal with: forgiveness in the non-secular world?
Mark Ruffalo: In the non-secular world. Listen, every great teaching—I grew up in a household where there was the Christianity, Catholicism, and the Bahai Faith in the same place and they didn't live peacefully together, right? But what I did learn from all of them, and I was steeped in them all—it was very important for everybody that we were steeped in them—the essential truths were true across all of them: the idea of compassion, the idea of forgiveness, the idea of something greater than ourselves, organizing this unique thing that we all find ourselves in, a care for those who were less fortunate than you, and the belief that there was something righteous in the end.
Those are things that we hold in high regard in the secular world. I feel it's the same in the non-secular world. Faith is an act that is grounded in
nothing but belief. It's very difficult to have faith, you know? But to forgive people is also just another kind of faith, and the faith in the redemptive quality of mankind. It's also the faith of our ability to grow as human beings, to grow past our pain, our hurt, our need for revenge.
I mean, look at the world right now. It's driven by revenge. And what is it getting us? Just more and more suffering, more death, more bloodshed, more need for revenge. It just compounds on itself over time. The idea to stop and drop your ego and forgive is so freaking hard. And that's the journey that Tom makes, you know. But he does it.
I found it hard to make it through the first few episodes of Task. It was so grim, so unforgiving, that while I appreciated the writing and performances, it was a difficult show to watch. But the final few episodes rewarded my patience and I came away from it happy that the show was made. Although I am ambivalent about whether I would recommend it without some strong warnings about what to expect.
TWEET OF THE DAY
ODDS AND SODS
* Nerdvana reports that season five of Shakespeare & Hathaway will premiere Tuesday, November 25th on BritBox.
* If you are missing Peacemaker, Trent Moore from Static On The TV has 10 suggestions for other superhero TV shows that might fill that empty spot.
* The new season of Nobody Wants This premieres this week on Netflix and The Jewish TV Club is diving deep into coverage of what it describes as the "Hot Rabbi Show."
WHAT'S COMING TODAY AND TOMORROW
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20TH:
No new premieres. Which I don't think has happened in at least a couple of years.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21ST:
Armed Only With A Camera: The Life And Death Of Brent Renau (HBO)
Catch & Release (MHz Choice)
Frontline: The Rise Of RFK Jr. (PBS)
Michelle Wolf: The Well (Netflix)
NBA On NBC Season Premiere (NBC)
NBA Pre-Game Show (NBC)
Who Killed The Montreal Expos? (Netflix)
SEE YOU EARLY TUESDAY MORNING!