Even though I am sending this out five times a week, there have been a number of days in which it felt as if I could send out twice as many and still not cover everything that matters. This is certainly one of those days.
And an FYI about my evolving web presence. I have now set the main page of AllYourScreens.com to forward to the main newsletter page. And I should have everything of importance moved and up at the new TooMuchTV domain within the next week.
It will be nice to finally have everything in one place.
And speaking of the newsletter, my subscriber numbers took a hit when I moved from Substack to Beehiiv. But I am now back up over 180,000 daily subscribers and I truly appreciate your support.
DGA & IATSE Urge Fast Track On Paramount-WBD Merger
I told my wife the other night that this extended battle over the Paramount/WBD merger is going to give me a stroke. And I was only slightly joking.
It astounds me how many people in Hollywood - smart people who understand the business and should know better - just seem to be flummoxed when it comes to deciding what they should say about the merger and whether it should be settled.
The DGA and IATSE issued a joint statement on Thursday urging a quick resolution to the legal battle between Paramount and the 12 state AG’s who filed a lawsuit attempting to block it.
And honestly, I am somewhat stunned by their argument, which seems to ignore a large number of the issues that surround the merger. In favor of supporting proposals which will ensure their members might still have jobs, even if thousands of other people in the industry lose theirs after the merger closes.
The statement, addressed to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Paramount Skydance Chairman and CEO David Ellison, urged Bonta and Ellison to "engage directly with each other to negotiate a resolution that ameliorates the anti-competitive aspects of the proposed merger."
"Should such an agreement prove impossible," the letter continues, "we would ask that both parties seek to move the start of the trial to an earlier date, as continued delay and uncertainty around the future of WBD only harms our members."
To be clear, this isn’t a strike, the industry isn’t shut down during the legal proceedings. No one is losing their jobs. But David Ellison has promised the entities providing most of the money for this merger that he will slash at least $6 billion worth of savings (i.e. salaries) from the newly combined companies. And that means the jobs of members at both unions will be at risk. Unless I missed the statement in which Ellison promised to cut $6 billion worth of costs from just the two company’s PR, janitorial and executive assistant ranks.
The letter goes on to propose a number of things, none of which have anything to do with the merger issues that really matter: consolidation, lack of diversity in markets, a hammerlock of control over the cable television markets, etc. Instead, it’s a laundry list of items that have an overall theme of “If you just promise to return things back to the golden years of the industry, we’ll be happy:”
• The maintenance of Paramount and WBD motion picture studios as separate studios, with each studio maintaining its own production, distribution, marketing and exhibition groups as distinct divisions;
• The production and distribution by each motion picture studio of a minimum of 15 theatrical films per year with an exclusive theatrical window of at least 45 days (preferably 60 days or more) before PVOD exploitation and 120 days before SVOD exhibition;
• An agreement that Paramount and WBD will continue to license theatrical films from third parties at no less than the average percentage of films licensed from third parties over the past five years (excluding 2020 and 2023);
• The same separate operational structure for Paramount and WBD’s television studios as applied to the motion picture studios;
• The maintenance of HBO as a linear pay television channel that will continue to be available on third party platforms (e.g., MVPDs and Amazon video);
• A commitment to produce films and television shows in the United States at no less than the average percentage produced in the United States during the past five years (excluding 2020 and 2023);
• A commitment to license original content on the combined entity’s linear channels and streaming platforms from third parties at no less than the average percentage of licensed original content during the past five years (excluding 2020 and 2023);
• A commitment that Paramount and WBD will continue to be sellers in the marketplace; and,
• A commitment that Paramount will continue to be based in Los Angeles.
My first take after reading this is that not only have the two unions apparently not been listening to what Ellison and other executives have been saying in public, their solution seems to be to keep everything the same as it was before the merger. Just combine the names together and let all of those poor WBD executives cash out.
The entire statement felt performative to me and another way for the two unions to ingratiate themselves with the owners of the respective studios.
There is quite a bit of talk in the statement about the current dire situation in Hollywood and how the industry needs to get “back to work.”
But they give away the crux of the problem with this short passage:
As you know, film and television production is down 35% to 40% worldwide, and even more in California. Additionally, there has been an increase in the share of that remaining production that now takes place outside the United States.
Approving this merger will do nothing to bring production back to the United States and it’s notable that Ellison hasn’t attempted to curry favor by promising to produce fewer projects in Hungary and Serbia.
Looking at that list of demands suggestions, it strikes me that Hollywood would have gotten all of those things if it had supported Netflix’s bid for Warner Bros. Studio, instead of expending endless amounts of energy fighting over whether the streamer would compress theatrical windows.
I’ve reached out to both unions hoping to find someone who can walk me through the strategy behind this letter. I’ll let you know if I hear anything,
It’s Like A Rolling Stone List Called ‘Top 69 Romantic Power Ballads,’ Except Worse
As a general rule, I loathe “Best Of/Top X” lists. Because they are just judgmental, eye of the beholder pieces of clickbait. There is a reason why there is a direct correlation between the decline of a news publication and its increasing reliance on lists to drive traffic and social media attention.
Which brings me to the annoyingly grating new piece in Variety: “Top 61 Showrunners Of 2026.” Given that it’s just August, it seems a bit early to be proclaiming the best of the year. Although the first sentence of the piece does attempt to explain that oddness:
Get to know the voices behind some of television's biggest shows of the last 12 months.
So it’s really the best of 2026 and some of 2025? So why limit the headline to 2026? Likely for the same reason they chose 61 as the number to highlight: who the hell knows?
After reading the piece I was prepared to whack at this idea like it was a pinata filled with lazy journalism. But luckily, Dan Barrett at the essential Australian media newsletter Always Be Watching saved me time and got to it first:
When you actually look at the list, you’re left noticing: a bunch of notable showrunners not on the list: Robert & Michelle King (showrunners of the upcoming Cupertino), Nick Santora (the very buzzy Reacher), Megan Park ( showrunner on the buzzy Sterling Point), Chris Mundy (showrunner of the buzzy Lanterns, debuting this Sunday), Jess Brownell (current showrunner of Bridgerton), and countless more.
And then there are inclusions of showrunners without a show released in 2026, like Megan Gallagher (All Her Fault), Howard Gordon (The Beast in Me), and Patrick Macmanus (Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy). These were all 2025 shows with no second season filming this year.
Believe me, I understand the pressure to create some buzz and get people talking about you. Although I would argue that variations of “Man, that is a dumbass list” is maybe not the optimal result.
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Odds & Sods
For Forbes, I took a look at DirecTV’s Gemini streaming device, which is currently my favorite way to watch live TV and my favorite streaming apps.
Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly premieres Tuesday, September 1st on Netflix. Here is a first look at the trailer. And here is the official logline: “Nobody, least of all Rachael Gunn, expected to be an Olympian. But as Raygun's performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics went viral overnight, so did an avalanche of memes, misinformation, and conspiracy theories questioning how she ever got there.”
The four-part drama adaptation of Charles Dickens' literary classic, A Tale Of Two Cities, starring Kit Harington, François Civil, and Mirren Mack premieres Sunday, September 6th on MGM+. Here is a first look at the trailer and here is the official logline: "London, 1782. Tensions run high in the war between France and Britain. A young woman, Lucie Manette, (Mirren Mack) has her life upended when she receives a message from Paris - her father, assumed dead for almost 20 years, may be alive. The messenger - idealistic French emigré, Charles Darnay (François Civil) - is arrested and charged with treason. Lucie enlists the help of a brilliant but erratic young lawyer, Sydney Carton (Kit Harington), to free Darnay in the hope he will lead her to Paris to track down her father. Lucie’s collision with Darnay and Carton unleashes a powerful and complex love triangle. Both men fight to be worthy of her love and Lucie is torn over which one to choose. Yet neither man - physically so alike, spiritually poles apart - can escape the other. Instead, they find themselves bound together in life and death, through triumphs, tragedies, marriage, and murder."
The Ben Affleck/Kerry Washington film Animals premieres Friday, October 9th in theaters and on Netflix. Here is a link to the trailer. And here is the official logline: “When their son is kidnapped, a Los Angeles mayoral candidate and his wife find themselves drawn into a web of deception. As they scramble to raise the ransom payment, they're forced to make choices that could tear their world apart.”
That Time Matthew Perry & Jennifer Aniston Starred In A 'Cyber Sitcom' For Windows 95
At one time or another, most of us have taken a job primarily for the money. Or done something that hasn't aged well looking back a few decades later.
Matthew Perry did an impressive amount of really good work over his long career. But one of the stranger roles might have been on a promotional video hawking the then-new Microsoft Operating System Windows 95.
To give you an idea of just how much money Microsoft had in the mid-1990s, the company was able to convince Friends co-stars Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston to appear in a 30-minute segment hawking Windows 95 while the sitcom was in its second year. I wasn't able to find a definitive contemporary report on the amount of money each actor was paid, but at the time it was speculated to be around a million dollars each.
Whatever the salary might have been, the two actors appeared in what is billed as the "world's first cyber sitcom," which turned out to mostly involve the duo being introduced to all of the new Windows 95 features. They learn that Windows 95 is compatible "with DOS games like Flight Simulator" and that "you can type a filename that is longer than eight characters." And it's all capped off with a visit to the new online community The Microsoft Network.
As cringeworthy as this is, it's also another reminder that Perry had the ability to make even the dumbest things seem charming and fun.
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12TH:
Conversations With a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes (Netflix)
Let’s Marry Harry Season One Finale (Netflix)
Most Extreme Humans Season Finale (TLC)
Nando Between Two Worlds - A Sintonia Film (Netflix)
Reacher Season Four Premiere (Prime Video)
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World (Crunchyroll)
Women in Blue (Las Azules) Season Two Premiere (Apple TV)
X-Men ‘97 Season Two Finale (Disney+)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13TH:
A Child Of My Own (Netflix)
Camp Rock 3 (Disney)
Engineering From Above Series Premiere (History)
Gone Season One Finale (Britbox)
Hollywood Crime Story: The Mob Takes Over The Movies (Sundance Now)
Isadora Moon (HBO Max)
My Brilliant Career Series Premiere (Netflix)
This, That And Everything In Between (Netflix)
Tires Season Premiere (Netflix)
Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear (Hulu)
Why Are You Single? Series Premiere (Tubi)