Welcome to another 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 week in TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executive and other guests and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
This week, we continue to come to you remotely — via the wonders of Google Hangout and our incredible producer — as we do our part to keep a social distance in this uncertain time.
This week's five topics are:
1. The CW's fall schedule.
January is the new October for Mark Pedowitz's younger-skewing broadcast network. With originals being held back for January to allow more time for production to resume from its unprecedented shutdown, this segment looks at how The CW will keep the lights on in the fall and how returning shows in January create a whole crop of other questions. Starts at the 5:22 mark.
2. Fox's fall schedule.
The independent broadcast network employed a different strategy for its fall slate as it held over a number of scripted and unscripted offerings for the fourth quarter. With animation and a handful of series already in the can, the big question marks for Fox are if the NFL and wrestling will come back as planned — and if it can find a way to remotely produce The Masked Singer. The segment begins at the 14:05 mark.
3. Inside the mind of a network scheduler.
Former Fox and NBC scheduler-turned-analyst Preston Beckman joins the show to discuss what upfronts are like and what TV's most creative puzzlers are facing amid this unprecedented landscape. The discussion begins at the 23:04 mark.
4. Showrunner Spotlight: Graeme Manson.
The Snowpiercer writer and exec producer joins the show for an extensive interview about the wild five-year journey for the TV series based on the Bong Joon Ho film of the same name. The series was moved to TBS and back to TNT, has had two directors, two showrunners, two premiere dates and is already renewed for season two. The interview begins at the 35:11 mark.
5. Critic's Corner.
As usual, every episode ends with Fienberg offering his thoughts on what to watch (or skip). This week, he weighs in on Hulu's The Great and TNT's Snowpiercer. Tune in at the 01:01:20 mark.
Coming next week: Sam Esmail joins us to discuss season two of Amazon's Homecoming and his busy upcoming slate.
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 Goldberg and Fienberg with any topics or questions you'd like to be addressed in future episodes at TVsTop5@THR.com.
