Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, January 12th, 2026:
PRODUCTION NOTES
I hadn't planned for today's newsletter to be so politics-heavy. Or so late. But honestly, it's difficult to not think about these things living in Minnesota. And hearing today that several people I know were stopped by ICE and detained before eventually being released made it a bit difficult to focus today.
Onwards to tomorrow...
PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE ISN'T GOING TO GIVE UP
David Ellison's Paramount Skydance announced today that they are suing Warner Bros. Discovery in Delaware in an effort to win control of the company. And they also plan to offer up alternate board member candidates for the WBD board.
So what does this all mean? The board member is less about accomplishing something substantial and more about just increasing the pressure. The Netflix deal is expected to be approved by the WBD board before the next round of board elections, so even if some of the new members would be approved, it likely wouldn't be enough to change things.
Ellison continues to insist that the Paramount Skydance offer is superior because WBD is assigning an unrealistic value to its linear business. Which may or may not be the case, although Ellison is arguing that business has zero value, which seems unlikely.
He still hasn't been able to counter one of the WBD board's biggest concerns. That while his offer for WBD is all cash, that offer requires adding more debt onto the new company, which would be added to the nearly $50 billion still on the WBD books. The WBD board has consistently made the point that level of debt will require a massive amount of cost-cutting, which would likely include the disposal of the WB lot as well as a severe cutback in its theatrical slate.
The biggest unanswered question continues to be what will happen with the Trump Administration. Ellison and his supporters have continued to insist their offer is the only one that could easily win approval from the Trump White House. And while Netflix continues to say they are positive about their chances for approval, as I reported last week, a number of conservatives are pushing back against the Netflix bid, arguing that the streamer is "too woke."
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY FOR A JOURNALIST?
If you ask the average person what quality is most important for a news journalist to possess, you'll likely get some variation of "non-partisan." They don't pick sides, they're not rooting for one side or the other.
But even in the best of circumstances, being a non-partisan journalist is nearly impossible. Even if you never vote or donate to a political campaign, even if your spouse or partner knows nothing about your political leanings, you are still not entirely non-partisan. Every decision you make, from the stories you cover to the people you interview, quickly become potentially partisan decisions. It's impossible to entirely separate the reporter from their emotions. Your life experiences, your previous reporting on similar subjects, things you've read and heard elsewhere have an unseen impact on your reporting.
Given that challenge, efforts by news outlets such as CNN or The Washington Post to become "less partisan" are doomed to failure. Because the issue is to private and individualistic, the only outside metric to measure partisanship is by trying to track and balance the number of voices in your news organization from each side. And that road quickly ends up at CNN's Scott Jennings, who is less of a conservative voice than someone extremely skilled at creating monumentally dumb viral moments centered around arguing around a panel of journalists.
A more worthwhile goal for a journalist should be to be fair. You can have your own personal beliefs and biases. But if approach each story, each interview with the premise that you are going to try and tell the most honest version of this news, then you will rarely go wrong.
As an example of what not to do, let's take a look at yesterday's edition of Meet The Press, where Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was one of the guests. Anchor Kristen Welker recounted Frey's comments in which he demanded that ICE "Get the Fuck" out of Minneapolis. She then asked him a question he has heard regularly from national news reporters over the past few days: "Do you bear any responsibility as a local leader to bring down the temperature right now?"
This is a question that news journalists love because it serves a couple of purposes. It shows the viewer, "Hey, we're not just tough with ICE, we're tough on the other side as well." It is also designed to show the reporter is attempting to "speak truth to power," to stand up against government officials.
Except that from a fairness point of view, it's a terrible question. The framing makes it sound as if the ICE actions and protests are somehow equal and that the protests are a cause of the ICE crackdowns, not a response to them.
It is a bit like a reporter walking down the street when they see someone being punched repeatedly in the face. And they decide to ask the person being punched "So do you bear some responsibility to lower the temperature of this beating?"
Just as bad is that this framing allows Trump officials to use this approach as a talking point to suggest most of what is going on in places such as Minneapolis is the fault of the people protesting or refusing to comply with ICE and Border Patrol officials.
Also on Sunday, Border Czar Tom Homan was on Meet The Press and made these comments:
"We need to let this place out, but while we're doing that, we've gotta stop the hateful rhetoric. Saying this officer is a murderer is dangerous. It's ridiculous. It's going to infuriate people more. Which means there are going to be more incidents like this. People now it's people doubling down."
And that is why you don't ask that question of Jacob Frey. Because it isn't a fair question and its core untruthful framing makes the situation worse, instead of better. It also allows Homan to make similar comments on several Sunday morning news programs, with no one pushing back or asking him the obvious follow-up question:
"You said in a recent interview that you have not seen one video of an ICE or Border Patrol agent whom you believe has used excessive force. Yet, in the past few days in Minneapolis, we have seen video of agents racing across a lawn full of high school students, spraying them with tear gas and pepper spray as they leave their building. There are multiple videos of agents reacting to protesters by saying some variation of "Why are you doing this, you see what just happened and it's going to happen to you." There are agents shutting off access to city streets and then going door-to-door demanding proof of citizenship. Given all of that, how should people react to what they see as government overreach?"
But that question doesn't get asked. Because to ask a question framed that way would be seen by critics as picking a side. Even though it's just trying to determine the simple matter of how the government expects the public to respond.
This is a tough time to be a journalist and I am not looking for any news person to "pick a side." What I do want them to do is be fair, to the best of their ability. And sadly, we are a long way from reaching that standard.
THE VIEW FROM MINNEAPOLIS
I know this is not a political newsletter. But it's difficult not to think about politics if you live in Minnesota right now. I have had a number of readers ask me what it's like here and I think this update from the incredibly useful newsletter Garbage Day provides a good overview of the current state of things here:
But the most egregious example I saw of how tightly connected these two worlds are happened on Saturday morning. As a convoy of vehicles driven by ICE agents arrived at the federal building, a woman punched the window of one of the cars. Close to two dozen agents jumped out of the convoy and tackled her and her friend to the ground. Immediately following them, coming out of the same car as the agents, was Fox News national correspondent Matt Finn, who filmed the whole altercation with a massive shit-eating grin on his face. When I started filming him and asked who he was with and what he was using that video for, he turned his back towards me and tried to hide his face. “Intense video,” Finn would later caption his post on X.
It’s hard to overstate how efficient Trump’s shock tactics are and how existentially terrifying they are to oppose. Thanks to National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), any form of anti-ICE protest can be labeled as terrorism, including filming them. And Attorney General Pam Bondi has added additional protections for ICE, in a memorandum titled, “Ending Political Violence Against ICE.” You can’t dox agents and you’ll get hit with federal charges if you post anything that’s deemed to be threatening them. ICE also recently purchased two new surveillance systems, Tangles and Webloc, which can track phone activity without a warrant. This morning, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that DHS plans to launch its own drone program next.
Dark times indeed.
AND FROM HOLLYWOOD
Screenwriter Cole Haddon's newsletter 5am StoryTalk is an essential read, even if you have no intention of ever writing a script.
Today's edition is a perfect example of why, as he weaves together the story of trying to sell a project based on the book series Coyote, which describes a near-ish future in which a conservative coup has transformed the United States of America into the United Republic of America. Along the way, he discusses why he and his family moved out of the U.S., and Hollywood's inability to tackle its core diversity issue:
It’s August 2019. For the four years that follow my failed WGA Board of Directors campaign, I use my considerable WGA mailing list to advocate for diverse candidates – specifically, non-white cishet male candidates. My argument is that a more diverse Board would be better suited to represent an increasingly diverse Writers Guild, but really, I’m an angry progressive who wants his union to begin fighting for the future rather than endlessly try to preserve a past that will never be again. It sounds too much like Make America Great Again to me when I listen to the white men who typically speak like this.
During this year’s campaign, I receive an email from an Oscar-nominated white woman who tells me my diversity position is offensive and she’s horrified that her “white straight sons” would be judged by the color of their skin. I try to explain they’re going to be just fine, but maybe we could worry about the people who are prevented from telling their stories because of the color of their skin. She then assures me she’s as liberal as they come, but my argument is racist against white men who need jobs, too.
After my final exchange with this white screenwriter, a message from Shonda Rhimes shows up in my inbox. Rhimes, a Black TV creator with a long history of advocating for diversity within the industry, just wants me to know that I wrote one hell of an email to our fellow membership.
It's well worth reading the entire thing....
ODDS AND SODS:
* Honestly, I don't know how how to react to this. Career Jersey Shore participant Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi is going to be part of the new series Canada Shore, which premieres Thursday, January 22nd on Paramount+. FWIW, here is the official logline: "Just like the original Jersey Shore series, Canada Shore brings together 10 larger-than-life roommates from coast to coast to coast onto the sun-soaked shores of Kelowna, B.C. They’re ready to party, flirt, and turn every night into a once-in-a-lifetime memory. But between all the hookups and hangovers, this wild crew becomes a family that laughs together, fights together, and supports each other."
* The cooking series Twisted Skillet premieres February 4th on RFD-TV.
* The stand-up special Mo Gilligan: In The Moment premieres Tuesday, February 3rd on Netflix.
TWEET OF THE DAY
WHAT'S COMING TODAY AND TOMORROW
MONDAY, JANUARY 12TH:
People Magazine Investigates Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
The Curious Case Of....(Investigation Discovery)
'Tis Time For "Torture," Princess (Crunchyroll)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13TH:
Killer Confessions: Case Files Of A Texas Ranger Series Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
Pole To Pole With Will Smith Series Premiere (NatGeo)
Riot Women Series Premiere (BritBox)
Star Search Series Premiere (Fox)
Suddenly Amish Series Premiere (TLC)
Tell Me Lies Season Premiere (Hulu)
The Boyfriend (Netflix)
SEE YOU TUESDAY MORNING!