TV Break: January 2023 - Our Most Anticipated Series of 2023 PLUS Wednesday Breaks Big, Netflix Breaks Records, & Fleishman Is In Trouble Breaks The Mold

Welcome to TV Break, where Pop Break’s Podcasts Editor Alex Marcus is joined by editor-in-chief Bill Bodkin, and TV Columnist Josh Sarnecky to talk about the happenings in television. Here’s the format of the show: The Best Thing I Saw on TV Last Month – Alex, Bill, and Josh talk about a show/episode/event they liked from the last month including Netflix’s Wednesday & Komi Can’t Communicate, and FX on Hulu’s Fleishman Is In Trouble. They also briefly discuss Netflix’s Dark and 1899. News Break – Alex, Bill, and Josh skip the news cycle this week to shout out their most anticipated series of the upcoming year. Series discussed include Disney Plus’s Secret Invasion, Ahsoka, & The Mandalorian S3; HBOMAX’s The Other Two; HBO’s The Last of Us; Peacock’s Poker Face; Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer S3; and FX on Hulu’s Class of ‘09. Streaming Wars – Alex, Bill, and Josh pick a streamer they think “won the month” based on new shows airing/upcoming shows announced etc. This month, Alex & Josh agree that Netflix closed out the last month of 2022 on top, thanks to the record breaking view counts for properties across TV and Film, such as Wednesday, Glass Onion, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Troll, and Bullet Train, the return of everyone’s favorite comfort food TV, such as Emily in Paris S3, and the recent news that Chris Rock will be broadcasting his latest Comedy Special Live on Netflix on March 4th. Meanwhile, Bill gives it up for Paramount Plus, which just had its best month in its short history thanks to its debut of Top Gun: Maverick, Smile, 1923, and Tulsa King, the return of MTV’s The Challenge and RuPaul’s Drag Race, and receiving that NFL late season ratings bump. He also discussed the news that Nicole Kidman just signed on to costar in the next Taylor Sheridan miniseries Lioness. New Series Spotlight – Alex, Bill, and Josh review Netflix’s The Witcher: Blood Origin, the first of what Netflix hopes will be many live action entries into the expanded Witcher universe. This series, created by Declan de Barra & Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, who are two veterans of network and genre tv, starring Michelle Yeoh and Minnie Driver, among others. It is set 2,000 years before the events of The Witcher and tells the tale of the very first Witcher and the ancient Elven Civilization before their inevitable demise.