Friday, July 17, 2020
Fri-Yay: Peacock Launches, Thoughts So Far; Stay Calm with New Series with A-Listers

by Vincent
This week, NBC is officially wide launching its streaming service Peacock with a 30 Rock reunion special (doubling as a Peacock advertisement/upfront special) that aired last night and a hefty promotional push on social media sites. The app has been available to Comcast subscribers since April, but it will become available to wide audiences this week. Peacock joins an increasingly crowded streaming market - the past year has seen the launch of Disney+, HBO Max and now Peacock, joining the established trio of Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video. There are a couple of reasons that Peacock might succeed even with the crowded market, though.
A few notable features stand out about Peacock. The first is that the service offers a free tier and a Premium tier. The free tier offers a solid library of movies and TV shows, albeit with ads. There are then two Premium tiers, one with a larger library at 4.99/month and one with an ad-free experience at 9.99/month. Another perk Peacock has is that the NBC brand is pretty solid - the service offers favorites like 30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, along with the Law and Order franchise. That could be enough to bring subscribers over to the service, especially since both of its premium tiers and fairly reasonable priced compared to Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max. Still, as of right now, all of the aforementioned comedies are available on other streaming services, though The Office is leaving Netflix next year to go to its exclusive Peacock home on January 1. No word yet on if the other comedies on the app are leaving their streaming homes. Still, if Peacock can get all of these comedies exclusively, it could be a real contender in the streaming wars. And yet, as a consumer, it's becoming a bit daunting to have to subscribe to multiple streaming services to get all of the content I want. It remains to be seen if all of these new services can co-exist without consumers ultimately choosing to leave some of their favorite series behind or own them on DVD.
HBO Max, the direct-to-consumer offering from WarnerMedia, announced that it wants to help you relax with a ten-episode order of A World of Calm. A totally new type of television experience that combines mesmeric imagery with narration by A-list stars - including Mahershala Ali, Idris Elba, Oscar Isaac, Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, Lucy Liu, Cillian Murphy, and Keanu Reeves. HBO Max's first project in the Health and Wellness space, A World of Calm is the result of a unique collaboration between the makers of Calm, the no. 1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation, and Nutopia, the team behind Nat Geo's critically acclaimed series One Strange Rock.
A timely antidote for our modern lives, each half-hour episode takes audiences on an immersive visual journey into another world. Building on the record-breaking success of Calm's Sleep Stories(TM) - bedtime stories for grown ups with over 250m listens - each relaxing tale is designed to transform how you feel. Transporting the viewer into tranquility through scientifically-engineered narratives, enchanting music and astounding footage, to naturally calm your body and soothe the mind. Each story is brought to life by a different iconic voice.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, July 10
Ghosts - "Smooching and Smushing" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Jay, Sam and the ghosts attempt to fix the ghost trap in hopes of getting Sasappis across the ghost boundary to visit his longtime crush, Shiki.
Bob's Burgers - "Wild Steal-ions" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Tina's lost book of semi-erotic horse-torical fiction lands in the hands of a mysterious stranger with nefarious intentions.
Grimsburg - "How to Lose an Ankle Monitor in 10 Days" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When the criminals of Grimsburg go on strike, the police force gets furloughed.
Family Guy - "Karenheit 451" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Lois becomes the leader of a group of mothers who want to ban books from schools.
The Great North - "Bust a Moon Adventure" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Moon makes a big decision after clashing with Beef; Judy and Ham hatch a plot to make some extra cash.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)
Thursday, July 10
- Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke is a musical guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Rhys Darby (Wrecked/How to Be a Gentleman/Flight of the Conchords), Rory Scovel (Grace and Frankie/Robbie/Ground Floor) and Baron Vaughn (Corporate/Grace and Frankie) - Rhys, Rory and Baron are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement/My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) - Oliver is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Jessica Lowe (Wrecked) - Jessica talks about Elixir's Red Flag Green Flag on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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