The traditional TV season is going into its last two months, which means that we’re about to see a glut of would-be Emmy contenders premiering in the next few weeks. The rush isn’t starting quite yet — it will really pick up in the first couple weeks of April, when a six- or eight-episode season can get its full run in before the Emmy eligibility deadline of May 31. But brace yourselves.
We’ll probably also see more fallout from the Bachelorette mess at ABC this week. (I argued at THR that the entire franchise needs to go after years of institutional failures, large and small.) I have a sneaking, cynical suspicion that Disney will wait for the uproar to ebb a bit and then maybe put the season on Hulu.
Also: Baseball! The regular season begins Wednesday under a big new media deal Major League Baseball made last fall. The opening game of the season will be on Netflix (which also has rights to the Home Run Derby and Field of Dreams game). NBC is gaining the Sunday night package that was formerly on ESPN and will also have early Sunday games on Peacock and the NBCSN cable channel. Peacock will also offer a Sunday afternoon, NFL RedZone-esque whiparound show.
ESPN, meanwhile, is cutting way back on the games it airs on cable (to about 30 per season). As part of the new deal, though, it acquired MLB.TV, the streaming service that offers out of market games. It will be folded into the ESPN app. Fox, TNT Sports and Apple still have their current rights as well, and everyone’s piece of the pie will be up for a new round of bidding after the 2028 season.
Here’s what’s coming this week. Times are ET/PT unless noted.
Premieres
Monday
Mystery Road: Origin (Acorn TV/AMC+)
Tuesday
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 (Disney+)
Wednesday
Bait (Prime Video) — a six-episode dramedy starring Riz Ahmed as an actor who gets a chance to audition to be the next James Bond.
Thursday
Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole (Netflix) — in all honesty, I thought this was like a parody of dark Nordic detective shows. Nope! Jo Nesbø, as it turns out, is a best-selling Norwegian author, and Detective Hole — Detective Harry Hole — is his lead character. Also! I just learned that one of the Hole books is the source material for the massively memed 2017 film The Snowman. What a time to be alive.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (Netflix) — a horror-shaped thing about a couple getting married and his creepy-ass family, executive produced by the Duffer brothers.
Love Overboard (Hulu) — Love Island, but on a boat.
Friday
For All Mankind season 5 (Apple TV)
House of David season 2 (Prime Video)
Sunday
10 p.m.: Betrayal: Secrets and Lies (ABC) — not (alas) a mashup/double revival of the forgotten mid-10s ABC dramas Betrayal and Secrets and Lies, but rather a true crime show based on the Betrayal podcast (and telling different stories than the Hulu show Betrayal, also based on that podcast).
Specials and sports
Monday
Kountry Wayne: Nostalgia (Prime Video)
Tuesday
Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special (Disney+)
Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride (Netflix)
Wednesday
8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. ET: MLB opening game, Yankees at Giants (Netflix) — MLB Network will produce the telecast, with Matt Vasgersian on play-by-play and CC Sabathia and Hunter Pence in the analyst roles.
Thursday
8 p.m.: iHeartRadio Music Awards (Fox)
Thursday-Sunday
NCAA men’s tournament Sweet 16/Elite Eight (CBS, TBS)
Friday
8 p.m.: Color Theories by Julio Torres (HBO)
Friday-Monday, March 30
NCAA women’s tournament Sweet 16/Elite Eight (ESPN networks)
Thanks for reading The Data Stream. If you like it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber — it’s $7 monthly or $75 annually, with a discount on the annual plan for the next few months. It will help me cover costs and bring you more things I hope you’ll enjoy seeing in your inboxes.