{"id":22538,"date":"2022-05-18T17:35:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T21:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=22538"},"modified":"2022-05-19T10:32:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T14:32:13","slug":"upfront-thoughts-on-the-future-of-broadcast-tv-networks-and-streamers-foxs-2023-slate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/05\/upfront-thoughts-on-the-future-of-broadcast-tv-networks-and-streamers-foxs-2023-slate.html","title":{"rendered":"Upfront thoughts on the future of broadcast TV networks and streamers + Fox’s 2023 slate?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 05\/18\/22<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is the big week in May that the broadcast networks traditionally unveil their fall schedules to advertisers.<\/strong> NBCUniveral<\/strong><\/a> and Fox<\/strong><\/a> went first on Monday with Fox actually breaking tradition by announcing its new and returning shows but not putting forth the time slots they will occupy. The theory seems to be that in an era when streaming is taking center stage (Disney+\/ABC <\/strong><\/a>unveiled yesterday; Paramount+\/CBS<\/strong><\/a> went today) who cares about time slots anyway. The CW<\/strong>, probably in its final days before a possible takeover by NewsNation<\/strong> owner Nexstar<\/strong><\/a>, goes tomorrow. IMHO<\/strong>, that Nexstar will likely result in thecreation of the first all-news broadcast network and all those (tired) DC<\/strong> superhero shows heading over to HBO Max<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For its part, NBC’s big new offering is a sequel to the sci-fi time-travel classic Quantum Leap<\/strong> <\/em>starring Raymond Lee<\/strong> as Dr. Ben Prassad<\/a>,\u00a0 described as a first-generation American, world-renowned physicist and a man of faith who, like Scott Bakula<\/strong>‘s Dr. Sam Beckett before him, steps into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanishes. Co-starring are Caitlin Bassett<\/strong> as Addison, the “smart, witty, fearless” (and no doubt kick-ass) ex-military operative who now serves as a project lead at Quantum Leap HQ, Mason Alexander Park<\/strong> as Ian Wright, the nonbinary chief architect of Quantum Leap’s AI program and Ernie Hudson<\/strong> as Herbert \u201cMagic\u201d Williams, as a Vietnam vet Sam Beckett encountered encountered in a Season 3 episode of the original Quantum Leap and who now heads the Quantum Leap project.
\nIMHO:<\/strong> Quantum Leap<\/em> is one of those shows that is truly beloved by fans (including me). If you’re going to continue the story and “make right what once went wrong” by having Sam finally return home, you would be well advised to build on the path organically suggested by the original series. If they would have asked me (and other fans), the new series should follow Sammy Jo Fuller<\/a>, the child conceived by Sam in a three-part Season 5 episode and who, as the trilogy concludes, we learn is a Quantum Leap Project technician working on finding a way to bring him home. Her character, who is not even listed in character manifest I’ve seen<\/a>, should actually be the focus of the sequel. It’s great that the new lead character is described as a man of faith, and having the \u201cMagic\u201d Williams connection to the original series is a nice touch, but the overall focus of the show, in my view, remains amiss. It’s too early to say but the worry is that the Woke sensibility will end up doing to the heartfelt and optimistic original Quantum Leap<\/em> what it has already done to Star Trek<\/em><\/strong> and Star Wars<\/em>.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

As many fans of both those franchises (as well as other iconic cultural touchstone like Superman<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, the Marvel Universe [ink language alert]<\/strong><\/a>) will tell you, the problem with the new iterations is that, instead of celebrating and building on concepts and characters that resonate with the public and build bridges between generations, arrogant people at arrogant corporations take properties they didn’t create and twist them into essentially demoralizing opposite versions of what came before them. Here’s a great case-in-point comparison between an episode of the the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/strong> <\/em>and this Short Treks<\/strong> <\/em><\/a>edition of Paramount+’s parody of itself Star Trek: Discovery<\/strong><\/em>. To paraphrase Bob Dylan<\/strong>, where have all the writers gone?<\/p>\n