PASADENA, Ca. — I’ve been in the main TCA banquet room a mere four minutes and already witnessed the first F-U of the winter press tour.
Today is FX Day, and this morning TV critics and reporters gathered from across Canada and the United States to hear from the Mayor of TCA, FX present and CEO John Landgraf. This is the guy who coined the phrase “Peak TV.” He is a wise, wise man.
Over the past few years, Landgraf has made no secret of his frustration with Netflix. They get all the ink, never share numbers. Meanwhile, FX has developed and programmed the best shows on television. Curse you, Ted Sarandos.
Right on cue, Netflix took a big steaming dump on this morning’s FX bacon, eggs and porridge brekkie here at the Langham Huntington Hotel, dropping their release promoting the launch of My Next Guest Needs no Introduction with David Letterman. The talk show premieres Jan. 12. Guests include former US president Barrack Obama (in his post-presidential TV talk-show debut), Jay-Z, George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Tina Fey and Howard Stern. Letterman’s name is still catnip for many of us typists, so Landgraf has to be pissed.
Look for him to work in a dig as well as give us his take on the upcoming Disney-Fox deal, which could take up to 18 months to consolidate (by which time all media as we know it will cease to exist).
