Welcome to the 209th 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 latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
During this week’s episode, we look at the Warner Bros. Discovery investor presentation for Max and are joined by Friend of the 5 Josh Wigler to discuss the game-changing episode of Succession. Here’s how the episode plays out:
1. Headlines
Dick Wolf, a This Is Us duo, Stranger Things, Ziwe, Kim Kardashian and The Resident lead the week’s top industry headlines.
2. Hello, Max
Warner Bros. Discovery execs gathered in Burbank, California, this week to unveil the new name and the larger plans for HBO Max, which in May will become just “Max.” This segment looks at the news that was unveiled — a new Game of Thrones spinoff, another Big Bang Theory chapter and, the week’s biggest news: a Harry Potter live-action TV series. With controversial creator J.K. Rowling attached, this segment largely focuses on all things Potter.
3. Max’s nuts and bolts
After examining the programming strategy, this segment looks at the nuts and bolts of Max: how much it will cost, the changes to the service and much more.
4. Succession spoiler alert!
Spoiler warning: HBO’s Succession delivered the show’s biggest blow in the third episode of its fourth and final season. Friend of the 5 Josh Wigler, who is expertly covering the show for THR.com and Post Show Recaps, joins us to discuss how [spoiler’s] death changes everything for the Emmy-winning drama.
5. Critic’s Corner
As usual, every episode ends with Dan’s thoughts on what to watch (or skip) this weekend. This week, he weighs in on Apple’s The Last Thing He Told Me, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, HBO’s Barry, Hulu’s Am I Being Unreasonable and Freeform’s Single Drunk Female.
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 us with any topics or Mailbag questions you’d like addressed in future episodes at [email protected].
