Welcome to the 181st 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 Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle) and Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) to discuss their update on Penny Marshall’s beloved 1992 pic A League of Their Own. Dan and I also have another spirited debate, this time about Disney’s earnings and price hikes, as we also discuss the latest awards season moves.
Here’s how the episode plays out:
1. Headlines
Tatiana Maslany, Jon Hamm, Lauren Ambrose, Brian Tyree Henry, Quinta Brunson and Abbott Elementary as well as the Power franchise and Apple’s Physical lead the week’s big headlines.
2. Disney earnings
The House that Mickey Built is raising prices on all three of its streaming offerings and unveiled plans for the ad-supported tier of Disney+. In reporting subscriber gains at Disney+, Hulu and ESPN, the Mouse House also topped Netflix in total subs for the first time ever. This segment is a spirited debate about the why behind it all.
3. Awards season updates
Kenan Thompson is your Emmy host. Plus, the Golden Globes are returning to NBC. Angry Dan returns!
4. Showrunner Spotlight
A League of Their Own co-creators and co-showrunners Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson join us to discuss their “reimagining” of the iconic movie about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. “We don’t really think of this as a reboot of the movie as much as a kind of reimagining of these stories,” Graham says. “It all comes from real history. Part of why people at first might not think that is because we don’t really tell joyful stories about queer people at this point in history.” The duo also discussed meeting with former AAGPBL players, including Maybelle Blair — who recently came out at the ripe old age of 95 — on what it was like in the early 1940s to be queer and play in the league. “The fact that she did just come out at 95 shows you how hidden that was, and what that must have felt like to find a community that was this little pocket within the league and to feel seen and that way,” Jacobson says.
5. Critic’s Corner
As usual, every episode ends with Dan’s thoughts on what to watch (or skip) this weekend. In this episode, he weighs in on Apple’s Five Days at Memorial, Hulu’s L.A. Lakers docuseries Legacy, Amazon’s A League of Their Own and Hulu’s This Fool.
Hear it all now on TV’s Top 5. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode. (Reviews welcome!) You can also email us with any topics or Mailbag questions you’d like addressed in future episodes at TVsTop5@THR.com.
Source: Hollywood
