The football this weekend will look a little different.
Pomona College via Wikimedia Commons
To start, an apology: I had an idea for a data-dive kind of newsletter this weekend. But as I started to get into it, I realized I needed more time than I had given myself. So I’m sorry for not sending something yesterday. That post, related to remakes, revivals and other IP mining, will come next weekend.
The end of summer blahs are still affecting the TV schedule. I would wager that the final weeks of August are among the least watched weeks of the year — even streaming services, which never really take a lot of time off, seem to dial back significantly around this time. It makes sense: Those of us who aren’t seeing kids off to the start of a new school year are likely trying to squeeze just a little bit more time off in before that, so making time to watch some things falls down the to-do list.
But the first signs of fall TV will, in fact, pop up on screens this week when the college football season kicks off. The NFL is still two weeks and change from playing games that count, but the schedule is about to get crowded. If you’ve been meaning to watch that one show all your friends have been telling you about, now would be a good time.
A couple pieces of news from late last week:
• The Pitt released its first look at season 3 on Friday. Visual cues suggest a fall or winter setting (people are wearing coats and scarves), and we learn that Robby (Noah Wyle) is returning to the hospital for the first time since he went on sabbatical at the end of season 2. The show returns in January, so why release a teaser nearly five months ahead of time? Well, the final round of Emmys voting is also happening now, and it might not hurt to remind voters about the show beyond buying For Your Consideration ads.
• Meghan Markle was in talks to join (the not yet ordered) season 3 of The Gentlemen at Netflix … until she wasn’t. The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry are moving back to the U.K., and there were reports she was looking to return to acting. Talks with The Gentlemen seemed to be pretty far along, but then on Saturday, journalist and royal chronicler Tina Brown reported the talks were off, citing “backlash” to the idea. Welp.
The calendar for this week is below. All times are ET/PT unless noted.