Production Notes
There won’t be a newsletter tomorrow. I am taking May Day off in support of the “Workers Over Billionaires” campaign. Aside from the fact that I agree with the premise, this newsletter is built on the idea that independent, non-corporate media is important to support. I am doing this knowing that anytime I write anything some people consider political, I’ll likely lose subscribers. But I feel it’s worth it. And I’ll send out a bonus newsletter over the weekend.
For those of you in the Twin Cities, I’ll be at MinneBar on Saturday doing a session called “Building A Profitable Independent Newsletter.” Minnebar takes place at the massive Best Buy corporate headquarters and my session begins at 10:40 am. Given that this newsletter has just crossed the 180,000 subscriber mark, I believe I have some helpful ideas to share.
If You Think ‘The Martian’ Has Been On Every Streaming Service, You Aren’t Far Off
Data courtesy of Reelgood
Rolling Stone’s Philiana Ng has a great piece on the disaster that has been American Idol’s shift from letting the audience voting via an app to doing it via social media. Aside from some massive technical issues (results had be delayed one week after the system crashed), she notes the social media voting is a terrible combination of difficult and non-transparent:
“For their votes to count, they must leave comments with the contestant’s correctly spelled name on specific pinned posts, up to 10 times each in individual comments, during limited voting windows — usually until the last commercial break during the show’s East Coast airings on Monday nights.”
“Scroll through the dedicated Idol pages on TikTok, Instagram (where the latest voting post on April 27 drew over 777,000 comments late that evening), and Facebook, and there’s ample evidence of people thinking they’re voting for their favorite finalists but leaving comments on incorrect (often old) posts, replying to someone else’s comment or their own in a thread, or simply misspelling the contestant’s name, effectively negating their votes.”
The Weekend Binge
A scene from “Nine Puzzles”
Going into the weekend, I try and provide some deep dive options for shows you can binge on the weekend. This week, I take a look at some of the great international TV shows that have come out in the past year or two on Hulu. They can be frustrating as a critic to cover, because there generally aren’t screeners available. And everytime I check Hulu, there seems to be some new title I haven’t heard of before. But show for show, their lineup is as solid as any major streamer.
The Tyrant
This is a recommendation for a very specific subset of readers. This three-part series is set in the same universe as the films The Witch: Part One and The Witch: Part Two. I think it really works well if you’ve seen those films beforehand, but if not, you’re going to find the first two episodes hard to follow. Regardless, the final episode is just nuts and it’s worth watching the short series just to see how it plays out.
The Obituary
A small-town journalist working the obituary desk is told she’ll be paid per article. Which is a problem in a town where few people ever die. But when she accidentally kills someone, she realizes that she’s discovered a novel way to increase her income.
The Best Heart Attack Of My Life
Dramedies are a genre that often don’t translate well across cultures and international borders. But this delightful series is the rare exception. Based on a true story, Alan Sabbagh plays a frustrated ghostwriter who is overweight and in a failing marriage. He runs aways on vacation to Uruguay, where he suffers a heart attack while with a new lover. And that heart attack changes his life in all sorts of unexpected ways. Just a great series and unlike anything I've ever seen. Plus, it's nice to see a lead actor who doesn't have the typical American "I could be a model" look.
Nine Puzzles
A teenage Jo I-na finds her uncle murdered beside a puzzle piece but can't explain her presence. Despite the fact her uncle was a retired police officer, his murder remained unsolved. Ten years later, Jo I-na is a police profiler and when she receives another puzzle piece, she's forced to team up with the detective who still considers her a suspect.
If It’s Tuesday, It’s Murder
I wrote about this series when it came out a couple of weeks ago. But as a reminder, it can best be described as Only Murders In The Building, except it takes place on an ill-fated week-long bus tour to Lisbon. Things are a bit slow until midway through episode, when the first murder takes place. From then on it’s a great murder-mystery, topping off with a massive reveal in an empty theater.
The Lost Station Girls
This French series is inspired by the true story of the hunt for the “Perpignan train station killer.” Set in the 1990s, the series follows the murder of four young French women and the relentless two-decade hunt for the killer.
A Shop For Killers
The series opens with college student Jeong Jian pinned down by a cabal of assassins inside the remnants of her childhood home, just hours after saying her final goodbyes to her uncle. Her efforts to survive and find out more about his death provides a stylish thrill-packed ride for viewers. I raved about this show when it premiered and I have been happy to see people discovering it in the months since it premiered.
The Breslau Murders
Franz Podolsky is a disgraced police officer on his way to an involuntary retirement after being accused of brutality. But that fate is temporarily paused when he's given the case no one else wants: investigate the murder of a Jewish-Polish athlete and his female companion, who are found in a hotel room with their eyes burnt out. As a Polish police officer in 1936 Nazi-occupied Breslau, this is a case where all the choices are dangerous ones.
Tempest
The timing on the release of this South Korean series couldn’t have been worse. It premiered on Hulu just after the shooting of Charlie Kirk and the first episode led with the murder of a presidential candidate who died in a very similar manner. But that’s not the only thing that will resonate with American audiences. There is the U.S. president who is equal parts blowhard and reckless, a secret battle to start a war to wipe North Korea off the map and a potential political realignment of countries that threatens the world order. And there is a bit of The Bodyguard thrown in for good measure.
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Odds & Sods
Netflix has ordered Minimum Wage, a 28 episode series from American High, founded by Jeremy Garelick (The B reak-Up, The Wedding Ringer, The Hangover, Murder Mystery 2, Pizza Movie, Rolling Loud). It's based on the American High Shorts series of the same name. Here is the official logline: “The series is an ensemble workplace series set inside a chaotic local pizza shop, Minimum Wage follows a group of teenage employees battling power-tripping managers, an unhinged rush, and the slow grind of service-industry burnout.”
Ahead of the expected merger with Paramount+, HBO Max is running a “come back to HBO Max” campaign targeting people who have churned off the service. It offers a deal of $9.24 a month (half-off the normal cost) for six months to returning subscribers.
CBS Mornings will host a special town hall titled , featuring astronauts from NASA's Artemis II mission. The event, part of the CBS News "Things That Matter" series, will air on multiple CBS platforms and include student questions, appearances by notable guests and a focus on celebrating the crew's achievements.
Season two of the German black comedy thriller Murder Mindfully premieres Thursday, May 28th, on Netflix.
Yahoo is launching a new sports business hub, available as part of Yahoo Finance ands Yahoo sports. Content partners for the hub include Penske Media-owned Sportico, Front Office Sports, Sports Business Journal, Awful Announcing, Barrett Media, JohnWallStreet, Sports Business Radio and the 4th Quarter. I’d love to see someone do this idea with smaller, non-trade entertainment and media newsletters and websites.
The faith-based drama series It’s Not Like That, starring Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes, premieres Friday, May 15th on Prime Video.
Season two of Lethally Blonde premieres Monday, June 1st on Investigation Discovery.
Season two of Everything On The Menu With Braun Strowman premieres Friday, June 5th on the USA Network.
The rom-com movie Office Romance premieres Friday, June 5th on Netflix. Here’s the official logline: “Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein lead this charming and raunchy romantic comedy. Lopez plays a powerful CEO and Goldstein is her airline’s newest lawyer. Their secret Office Romance takes off when these two workaholics stop playing by the rules and start following their hearts.”
And while Netflix hasn’t announced it yet, Lopez has another film in the pipeline there. The Last Mrs. Parrish is based on the best-selling novel and is directed by Robert Zemeckis. In the film, “a con-woman targets a wealthy couple by befriending the wife and seducing the husband with the master plan of becoming the next Mrs. Parrish, only to discover that the wife's life is far more complicated than she could have imagined.”
What’s Premiering Tonight And Tomorrow
THURSDAY, APRIL 30TH, 2026:
Destination World Cup 2026 (Tubi)
Man On Fire Series Premiere (Netflix)
Mysteries Of Ancient Medicine Series Premiere (NatGeo)
Scarborn (Viaplay)
FRIDAY, MAY 1ST, 2026:
Conbody vs Everybody (Criterion Channel)
Glory Series Premiere (Netflix)
Gold Rush Season Finale (Discovery)
Heresy (Shudder)
My Dearest Señorita (Netflix)
My Dream Lottery Home Season Premiere (HGTV)
Son-In-Law (Netflix)
Swapped (Netflix)
Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters Season Two Finale (Apple TV)
Twenty Twenty Six Series Premiere (BritBox/Tubi)
Zillow Gone Wild Season Premiere (HGTV)