You have questions. I have some answers.
What happened to “Better Call Saul”?
It took a break. It may have felt like a long one but, as I have mentioned before, many shows take longer hiatuses (and make fewer episodes) than in TV’s olden days. “Better Call Saul” will begin a 10-episode fifth season Feb. 23 on AMC.
According to the network, “Jimmy McGill’s decision to practice law as ‘Saul Goodman’ creates unexpected and profound waves of change for those in his orbit.” And AMC will set the stage with a big showcase of “Breaking Bad,” the series that led to “Better Call Saul.” A five-week “Breaking Bad” marathon will present all the episodes of that series on each Sunday from Jan. 19 to Feb. 16. Also on Feb. 16, AMC will air “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” which picks up after the end of “Breaking Bad” and debuted on Netflix.
For years I’ve DVR’d CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report” on PBS to watch the next morning as I’m getting ready for work. Co-host Bill Griffeth made an announcement on Dec. 27 that the program was ending, and that was its last broadcast. Why? Cost? Competition? Low ratings? It was fair, succinct, politically neutral and remarkably helpful in understanding how current happenings affect the markets. I will definitely miss it.
The increased availability of business programming was a major reason for the end of the series after more than 40 years on the air. When it began, news service Current reported, “It was the only television show to offer a full evaluation of daily events on Wall Street.” But since then, entire cable channels and online services devoted to business have come along, including CNBC, which bought the show in 2013 and has produced it for public television since then. But cuts in staff and funding had begun even before then and more changes followed under CNBC, eventually leading to this biggest change of all.
What happened to the handsome Frenchman who was on “Dancing with the Stars” some years ago? He almost won the mirror ball but lost to a little blonde gal who had been in the Olympics. He was on a sitcom, I believe, but I have not seen him after that.
You remember Gilles Marini, a model and actor who famously showed all his stuff in the first “Sex and the City” movie. He was on “Dancing with the Stars” twice, finishing second to gymnast Shawn Johnson in the eighth season in 2009 and sixth in the “all-stars” season in 2012. He has acted often on television, including extensive stints on “Brothers & Sisters,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Devious Maids,” “The Bold and the Beautiful” and, not too long ago, “Days of Our Lives.” You can also find him on Twitter and Instagram.
I just finished watching all seven seasons of “The West Wing” on Netflix. It ended with Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) ending his time as president and Matt Santos taking over. Was anything ever done to continue the series or start a spinoff? I really wanted to see what was going to happen next.
The drama about the folks working in the White House certainly left the door open for a continuation with a new administration with its 2006 series finale, but sagging ratings prompted NBC to end things then. Now the show seems loved even more now than when it ended in 2006 — “an idealistic alternative reality” to current politics, as the New York Times put it late last year. While it has some serious flaws, it remains engrossing. I watched the whole thing again last year. And if you Google “West Wing sequel” you will find nearly annual reports of this or that possible new “West Wing.” But so far none appears to have gotten past chatter.
I really enjoyed the Navy SEALs series “Six.” Is it coming back this year?
No. The show ended in 2018 after two seasons on History. Deadline.com reported the reason was a huge drop in the ratings from the first to the second season.
