Today In Entertainment

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

What's news: Emmy ratings hit an all-time low as ABC weighs lessons learned for Oscars, Quibi begins to explore its options, Cuties controversy drew curious Netflix subscribers to the movie, unions and studios strike return-to-work deal, how a Supreme Court without RBG could reshape IP law. Plus: The Dark Crystal canceled, Comedy Central hops on Schitt's Creek bandwagon. --Alex Weprin

 Emmys Postmortem

➤ABC's Emmy boss talks hazmat suits, garbage fires and potential Oscar lessons. ABC Entertainment’s executive in charge of the show, SVP of alternative series, specials and late-night programming Rob Mills, spoke with THR's Michael O'Connell on Monday. In addition to confirming that there were indeed dozens of Hazmat suit-clad statuette delivery people roaming Los Angeles during the telecast, he talked about potential Oscar lessons, awards show ratings fatigue and what he wishes viewers had seen more of.

--"I will say I got the nicest email from [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO] Dawn Hudson, saying how much she was loving the show. And she's worked with both Jimmy hosting and [Emmy producer] Reggie Hudlin producing the Oscars. I think everyone agrees the Emmys was a success, as far as pulling it off. There's certainly some learning there. I think the benefit of the Oscars is we have time on our side. [The Oscars will be held on April 25, 2021.] From when this started in March until now, look how much we've learned. These Emmys probably wouldn't have been possible to pull off even six weeks ago. Who knows what's going to happen throughout the fall and into the new year, but there are things that we absolutely could pull into the Oscars." The interview.

+Emmys ratings hit (another) all-time low: For the second year in a row, the Primetime Emmy Awards have hit an all-time low in TV viewership. Time zone-adjusted Nielsen numbers for ABC's live broadcast of the 72nd annual awards have the show drawing 6.1 million viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. The previous low was set a year ago, when Fox had just under 7 million viewers and a 1.7 in the key ad demographic in the finals. The numbers.

+Host Jimmy Kimmel addressed the numbers on his show last night: "Well, I hosted the virtual Emmys last night. They’re saying it was the highest-rated Emmys ever. Oh, the lowest? Oh, all right," he joked during his monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in his first episode back from a summer-long vacation. "Well, we set a record, let’s just say that." More.

➤Quibi is exploring its options. The mobile-first video service founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman is working with advisors to weigh several options, including raising more money and going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. The story.

+Meanwhile: Comcast has an activist. Trian Fund Management has acquired a $900 million stake in the cable giant, and has engaged in conversations with management, per the Wall Street Journal. The fund thinks the company is undervalued, and wants it to spin out underperforming assets.

➤Cuties controversy lured viewers to the Netflix movie, survey says: A majority of viewers watching Cuties (Mignonnes) over the Sept. 18-20 weekend said they did so because of the controversy surrounding the acclaimed French film, according to a new survey from leading Hollywood marketing and research firm Screen Engine/ASI. Netflix found itself having to apologize several weeks ago after one of its promotional posters for Cuties was widely criticized for being sexually exploitative. "We're deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties," the streamer said via its Twitter account. However, the apology failed to stop an online movement in the U.S. to boycott the movie itself. The story.

 Studios, Unions Strike COVID Deal

➤The entertainment industry has just cleared a major hurdle in its effort to get back to work. After months of negotiations, Hollywood’s top studios and unions have finally come to an agreement on a handful of lingering issues related to COVID-19 filming protocols, IATSE announced on Monday (read the full agreement here). The return-to-work agreement was reached by the AMPTP, the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and Teamsters.

--The AMPTP, which represents the major studios, and the industry’s top guilds had been struggling to agree on certain aspects of on-set safety protocols and other COVID-related contractual issues since June. The thorniest issues were said to revolve around the frequency and type of virus testing, whose responsibility it is to should the cost of the protocols, crew size, workday caps, the role of COVID-19 managers on set and sick day compensation. The story.

➤A Supreme Court without RBG may impact Hollywood's grip on intellectual property. The Supreme Court loses its most pro-copyright voice just as the high court is set to hear its most important copyright case in decades, Eriq Gardner writes. The story.

 'The Dark Crystal' Goes Dark On Netflix

➤Add The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance to the list of Netflix shows canceled after a single season. The streamer will not go forward with the show, a prequel to Jim Henson's 1983 movie produced by his namesake company. News of the cancellation comes just two days after the show won an Emmy for outstanding children's program. The story.

+Schitt's Creek is coming to Comedy Central. On the heels of its Emmy sweep, the ViacomCBS-owned cable network will begin airing all six seasons starting Friday, Oct. 2. Every week, the cabler will air five episodes. More.

+When Fox's The Masked Singer returns for season four on Sept. 23, the reality hit will look largely like it has in the past. Yes, there will be a new crop of celebrities and a new batch of incredibly elaborate (and ridiculous) costumes, but the coronavirus-related challenges the production team faced will largely not end up on screen. "When you watch Masked Singer, you are not going to feel like it's a different show. It feels like there's an audience there," Fox alternative boss Rob Wade tells THR. The interview.

➤In agency news: Former Paradigm agents Patrick McAuliff and Phil Egenthal and ex-William Morris Endeavor agent C. J. Strock have combined to launch Mint Talent Agency... Creative Artists Agency has named theatre agent Kevin Lin and multicultural business exec Ruben Garcia as co-heads of the Hollywood talent agency's Cultural Business Strategy...

➤TV review: Inkoo Kang reviews Fox's Filthy Rich, writing that "despite its parodic intentions, the series displays a frustrating timidity in critiquing (or even chronicling) the evangelical milieu in which it's set beyond the Monreauxes' material excess and most glaring ethical failings." The review.

➤Obituaries: Michael Chapman, the two-time Oscar nominee who shot Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Waltz for Martin Scorsese, Invasion of the Body Snatchers for Philip Kaufman and The Fugitive for Andrew Davis, has died. He was 84... Ron Cobb, the underground cartoonist turned production designer who influenced the making of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and helped shape the worlds of Conan the Barbarian, Alien and Back to the Future, has died. He was 83... 

--Michael Lonsdale, who starred as the mad villain Hugo Drax in the Bond film Moonraker and the dogged detective in the Fred Zinnemann-directed crime thriller The Day of the Jackal, has died. He was 89... Jackie Stallone, celebrity astrologer, women's wrestling promoter and mother of actors Sylvester and Toni D'Alto and singer Frank, has died. She was 98...

In other news...

--Tiffany Haddish will join Nicolas Cage, playing Nicolas Cage, in Lionsgate meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

--Amid a standoff with two major talent agencies, the Writers Guild of America West unveiled the results of its annual election for its leadership on Monday.

--iHeartRadio is sharing new details about its upcoming podcast with Hillary Clinton. The former Secretary of State will launch You and Me Both on Sept. 29. 

--Post Malone leads the nominations for the 2020 Billboard Music Awards with a total of 16.

--Kate Winslet and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas are lending their voices to an HBO Max series based called A World of Calm, on the popular meditation app Calm.

--Baseball fans unhappy about COVID-19 ticket refund policies who bought their seats on Ticketmaster or StubHub will have to arbitrate their claims, a California federal judge has ruled.

--Sunny Hostin on "taking a risk" in new memoir to champion people of color. 

--The U.K.'s Film and TV Charity, which has already distributed several million dollars to creatives hit by the COVID-19 crisis, is launching a new recovery fund that aims to protect diverse talent and help them sustain their careers through and out of the pandemic.

What else we're reading...

--"Networks are prepping for the craziest fall season in the history of broadcast TV" [Bloomberg]

--"BTS debuting 'Dynamite' choreography video in Fortnite" [Polygon]

--"L.A. Times shaken by a summer of turmoil and scandals" [L.A. Times]

--"Patrick Stewart & Mark Hamill face off in bizarre Uber Eats commercial" [ScreenRant]

--"Justice Department expected to brief state attorneys general this week on imminent Google antitrust lawsuit" [Washington Post]

Today's birthdays: King Sunny Ade, 74, Andrea Bocelli, 62, Toni Basil, 77, Joan Jett, 62, Chesney Hawkes, 49.

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SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

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