Peak TV Hasn't Peaked, Apparently

Plus: Ronan Farrow and Jodi Kantor/Megan Twohey books, 'Watchmen' and what's making us happy by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when [reanimating James Dean]( seemed like a very bad idea. It was the week when apparently [a lot of people wanted to watch]( a hybrid of The Little Mermaid and a Little Mermaid concert. And it was the week when we [just kept on talking]( about Martin Scorsese. Let's get to it. Opening Argument I took a rough count of new shows premiering in November and talked about it on Twitter this week. My estimate: 65. That’s not counting specials, or movies (I know of at least 25 holiday made-for-TV movies premiering in November, and that list is not yet complete), or returns of previously existing series. That’s just new series (though some only have a couple or a few episodes). That’s 65 new series in the month of November. [Daisy Haggard in 'Back to Life'] Luke Varley/Showtime Part of that has to do with the launch of Apple TV+ and Disney+ in the same month — each of those services has seven or eight new shows. But on the other hand, almost nothing new is coming to broadcast networks this month. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX: They’re largely silent in terms of new series. So there will be later months when you don’t have so many streaming shows, but many of them will be stuffed with new broadcast and cable shows. We’ve talked about Too Much TV, or Peak TV, or whatever you want to call it, for a long time. Back when the phrase “peak TV” was coined, the hope was that by this point, we’d be seeing contraction — we’d be seeing fewer shows each week/month/year, rather than more. But then it became clear that streaming services would proliferate, and that libraries of content would be hoarded to prop up the value of those services, and originals would be part of their packaging as well. Right now, a lot of deals are floating around: [free Disney+ for a year]( to some Verizon customers, [free Apple TV+ for a year]( to some people who buy new Apple devices, Apple TV+ bundled with Apple Music for some students, [HBO Max (coming in 2020) free for some people]( who already have various kinds of HBO service (it’s tricky), [NBC’s Peacock service potentially available free]( with ads. Some of those deals, or other bundling deals like them, may happen for a long time. So it will be a while before we reckon with the true count of how many people will pay for how many services for how long. But it’s worth keeping in mind that even if you have every service, everything available, every opportunity, you still don’t have unlimited time. How many of the 65 new shows could you even watch if I promised you all of them were good?** **I am not making this promise. We Recommend I recently finished [Ronan Farrow’s book]( Catch and Kill, and am almost done with [Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s book]( She Said. Both are about reporting out the accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse against Harvey Weinstein — Farrow for The New Yorker and Kantor and Twohey for The New York Times . They’re both outstanding books; I find Farrow’s a bit more of a gripping read, but they’re both well worth your time. I feel I must mention that the inimitable, relentless comedy show Billy on the Street is now on Netflix, so if you’ve always wondered what it would look like if a loud man tried to quiz New Yorkers while accompanied by amiable celebrities, you can find out in a whole new way. If you are a Great British Baking Show person, be aware that while the season just ended, the Holidays run is just starting. That's also on Netflix. I may have more to say about this later, but if you’re not watching The Morning Show on Apple TV Plus (I guess they write it out as Apple TV+), you’re missing at least one really indelible performance by Billy Crudup as a network suit. I have mixed feelings about the show in general, but that performance is dynamite. What We Did This Week [scene from 'Watchmen'] Mark Hill/HBO [On our Wednesday show]( Glen and I talked to Soraya McDonald and Daisy Rosario about HBO’s Watchmen, which is terrific, by the way. Stephen [talked to Mary Louise Kelly]( on All Things Considered about posthumous music releases. And [on the Friday show]( Stephen and Glen talked to Mallory Yu about the new The Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep. What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: - Stephen: The Anthony Ramos album [The Good & The Bad]( the Leslie Odom Jr. album [Mr]( and the clipping. album [There Existed an Addiction to Blood]( - Mallory: Demi Adejuyigbe’s [take on the Succession theme]( Jenny Zhang’s essay [The Rise (and Stall) of the Boba Generation]( - Glen: [Death Wins a Goldfish: Reflections from a Grim Reaper's Yearlong Sabbatical]( by Brian Rea What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [pchh@npr.org](mailto:pchh@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](