“Fear the Walking Dead,” “I Am Cait,” “Mr. Robot”

Hal Boedeker the very smart and funny critic of television and other matters for the Orlando Sentinel reached out to remind me that during its heyday when the TCA was all about newspaper critics and reporters journalists were sent to TCA tours largely to seek out stories of local interest in their markets In other words to seek out local angles to larger storiesamp160or to new programmingamp8220Broadcast networks understand that because they remain local businesses through their affiliates and O and Osamp8221 Boedeker noted amp8220Itamp8217s not the same for cable or streaming servicesamp8221 My column had largely focused on the continued dominance of the broadcasters at TCA toursThere are still several newspaper critics from significant markets who attend TCA tours but their numbers have declined in recent years for many different reasons budget cuts reassignments retirement death Boedekeramp8217s comments speak to the continued strength of the broadcast networks at the tours but I have to wonder how long that will continue as the shift from newspaper and magazine critics and reporters to Web site bloggers and episode recappers continuesIndeed everything about the television business and all of the businesses that circle around it continues to change in surprising ways Just look at the premiere numbers for AMCamp8217s amp8220Fear the Walking Deadamp8221 on Sunday night Has there ever been so successful a launch of a scripted series in midAugust when the dog days of summer have only just begunItamp8217s worth noting that AMC three weeks ago produced a very timely and effective panel for amp8220Fear the Walking Deadamp8221 at the TCA tour Surely that generated a significant wave of press coverage during the days leading up to the premiere putting amp8220Fearamp8221 at an advantage over many new fall season shows that do not debut for weeks or months after their TCA presentations And the zombielovefest known as ComicCon wasnamp8217t that long ago either I canamp8217t help but wonder Does the mushroom cloud of social media communication that rises from ComicCon and TCA hold until premiere season Within the last two days amp8220Fearamp8221 has become the most talked about new series of the summerWhen I was flying home from Los Angeles last week I came across a marathon of another of the most talkedabout new shows of the season Eamp8217s amp8220I Am Caitamp8221 the reality series that ostensibly chronicles the brand new life of Caitlyn Jenner Early episodes held my interest but as I continued watching it seemed to lose steam It was only when various Kardashians began venturing to Caitlynamp8217s fabulous Malibu retreat to meet her for the first time that it picked up againAs I watched amp8220Caitamp8221 it occurred to me that an appearance by Caitlyn Jenner during NBCUniversal Cableamp8217s day at TCA would have made it one of the most memorable if not the most exciting of the entire tour instead of one of the most unremarkable Think of the coverage Jenner would have generated Think of the opportunity it would have presented for Jenner to further extend her crucial messages of acceptance and support for members of the LGBTQ communities not to mention a second wave of publicity from which her show would clearly benefit Why wasnamp8217t she there Do we place the blame on NBCU Cable or on Jenner herself Iamp8217ll bet I know the answer but Iamp8217m not sayingFrankly NBCU Cableamp8217s day could have used a boost especially since it was a light day that came to a sudden end by midafternoon There are at least ten networks in the NBCU Cable group with interesting programs to present at a tour so why couldnamp8217t they put together a day filled with compelling panels of genuine interest to most of the critics in attendance As it was there were only two panels that generated much excitementamp160amp8211 one for USA Networkamp8217s upcoming adventure about alien occupation amp8220Colonyamp8221 the other for Syfyamp8217s miniseries adaptation of the classic Arthur C Clarke novel quotChildhoodamp8217s Endquot USA really should have scheduled a session for its breakout summer smash quotMr Robotquot arguably the most talkedabout summer series at the tour To be fair its stars Rami Malek pictured at top and Christian Slater attended NBC39s lavish party at Spago that night I think more people were interested in talking to Malek than to Neil Patrick HarrisNetflix and FX Networks to name two nonbroadcast entities that winningly presented at the tour had no trouble filling entire days with compelling panels devoted to their programming while AampampE Networks and Turner Networks stayed awayamp160I get that for all networks some talent is difficult and refuses to attend or makes everyoneamp8217s lives so miserable in the process that it is simply not worth the effort ie the expense But I also understand that certain network groups always get it right They include FX Networks Crown Media Networks the networks of National Geographic and AMCamp160Networks Discovery Networks Viacom Networks and the Disney Cable Networks fall somwhere in betweenamp160On this tour even Up stepped up So did WGNPutting together a great TCA shouldnamp8217t be that difficult given the sheer volume of programming that virtually everyone has to work withThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers amp160amp160amp160

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“Fear the Walking Dead,” “I Am Cait,” “Mr. Robot”

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Ed Martin

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 6) - By Carl Mayer

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“Fear the Walking Dead,” “I Am Cait,” “Mr. Robot”

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