By now, you've seen this commercial in heavy rotation, one of at least three for DirecTV.
Over the last couple of weeks, WWE and its broadcast partners have finalized plans for the company's three primetime programs.
Monday Night Raw will finish its 2nd tour of duty on USA Network in December, not September, as the deal with Netflix doesn't kick in until January, which would've left the flagship of WWE-TV in limbo for three months. Realizing this, NBC-Universal-Comcast, USA's parent company, and TKO Holdings, WWE's parent, agreed to leave Raw where it is until the end of the year, meaning the earliest it'll debut on Netflix would be January 6.
NXT will leave USA following the September 24 episode---we think---to transition to the CW. CW President Mark Schwartz, who had Smackdown on his roster from 2006-10, said the bookend shows would have taken the network over budget. Since NXT originates from one venue only, in suburban Orlando, it saves money for both WWE & the CW. Remember, too, that CW is now owned by Nexstar Media, which owns some stations, including WTEN in the 518, and has a lower operating budget than Paramount or Warner Bros. Discovery, the previous co-owners of the network.
Smackdown shifts back to USA, where it aired on Tuesdays from 2016-9, on September 13, and will stay on Friday nights. Fox will fill the void on Fridays with college football, giving them back-to-back nights of NCAA action, and, the shift from Fox to USA also means Smackdown will no longer have to be bumped to a cable channel when the World Series or a college bowl game takes place.
Moving Raw to Netflix was the riskiest part of this deal, but as long as WWE wants to try to revisit the Attitude Era (1998-2002), this would be the best place to make the flagship more adult in content. However, I would suspect that if there are fans who don't have access to Netflix, WWE would be wise to angle for repurposing rights with either Peacock or another streamer......!
Besides, Raw traditionally gets killed in the ratings in the final 3-4 months of the year due to Monday Night Football and other factors, so that's eliminated with the move to Netflix.
To clear room for NXT, the CW is moving Superman & Lois, entering its 4th & final season, to Thursdays for a 10 episode run (October-December---we think). Well, at least I'll have two reasons to watch CW.....
The Daily Gazette, the #2 daily newspaper in the 518, is in the process of changing ownership.
Founded by the Hume-Lind family in 1894, the Schenectady daily is set to be sold to publisher John DeAugustine, ending an effort dating back to 2012 by the family to find a buyer for the paper. DeAugustine has been with the Gazette for 11 years. Under his leadership, the Gazette added the Nippertown website, founded by the late Blotto frontman, Greg "Sarge Blotto" Haymes and his wife, singer-songwriter Sara Ayers, and the Amsterdam Recorder, with both sites accessible on the Gazette's webpage.
The Hume-Lind family had previously announced last month they were planning on selling their Schenectady headquarters, with CDTA a potential buyer. The building is still up for sale, but we'll see where that leads.
As Donald Trump is on trial for falsifying campaign records to cover a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, a number of prominent GOPers, and Trump's dimwitted eldest sons, Dumb Donald II & Stupid-E, have shown up at trial proceedings in New York, and have spoken on behalf of the defendant, railing against the fact that ol' Orange Narcissus is being "persecuted", when he clearly is not.
So far, the GOPers who've made the trip have included:
Senators Rick Scott (Florida), Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), & JD Vance (Ohio).
House Speaker Mike Johnson (Louisiana).
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgam.
Burgam aside, these lawmakers are playing hooky from their responsibilities to their constituents in order to support the former president, and, on his behalf, trashing Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter, as well as DA Alvin Bragg, and Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, who was on the witness stand the last two days.
So where do the real-life Beavis & Butt-Head (Don, Jr. & Eric) fit into the picture?
Stupid-E, for one, violated court protocols by whipping out his cell phone on Monday to trash Cohen, and Dumb Donald II went whining to Fox No News. In effect, circumventing the gag order Merchan issued against their father.
As Farron Cousins explains, that could put the Archduke of Affluenza even further in trouble.
Maniac Mansion, based on a 1987 video game developed by LucasArts, was adapted for television three years later, airing in Canada on YTV, and here in the US on the Family Channel (now Freeform). The series ran for 3 seasons, usually airing on a weeknight with a rerun on Saturday mornings.
The series also had a decided Second City bent to it, with members of the troupe's Toronto branch making up much of the cast, led by Joe Flaherty. Eugene Levy not only was an executive producer and writer, but was credited with composing some of the music as well.
The satirical premise was what if a man named Edison had invented weirder things than Thomas Edison had. Two experiments led to Fred Edison (Flaherty) giving his toddler son an adult body, but with the child's mind intact, and tramsmuted Harry, giving him the body of a fly, poking fun at a movie franchise that had been revived four years earlier. In fact, Harry, the fly (John Hemphill, a later member of Second City), is the focus of an episode. Here's a sample clip.
You know summer's around the corner when the City of Albany announces the annual Alive at 5 concert series, set to launch June 6. 8 shows over a 9 weeks period (no show on July 4 since the action will be at the Empire State Plaza).
This year's lineup:
June 6: Pride night, headlined by Let's Sing Taylor, a Taylor Swift party band making their 2nd appearance in the 518 already this year. They were at the Troy Music Hall in March.
June 13: Classic Rock night with Dokken & special guest Hark.
June 20: Latin night with Tito Puente, Jr. & special guest Bronte Roman.
June 27: Pop night with Vanessa Carlton & special guest Canella.
July 18: Reggae night with Third World & special guest Upstate Reggae Posse.
July 25: Rock night with The Record Company and local favorites Sirsy.
August 1: Funk night with Galactic, featuring Jelly Joseph with Hilltop.
The Three Stooges are back in the plumbing business, however reluctantly, in 1949's "Vagabond Loafers", a remake of the classic "A Plumbing We Will Go". Dudley Dickerson appeared in both films, and would make this his last film, although stock footage would be used in subsequent shorts.
