Welcome to the 236th episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.
Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).
This week’s podcast features the return of our Showrunner Spotlight segment — the first time we’ve had creatives on the show since before the WGA strike! — with guests Amber Noizumi and Michael Green of Netflix’s adult animated drama series Blue Eye Samurai. Other topics include a tribute to Matthew Perry, a look at November’s big TV previews and more.
Here’s how the episode plays out:
1. Headlines
Futurama, Prison Break, Yellowstone, Stephen Colbert, HBO and Casey Bloys lead the week’s top industry headlines.
2. RIP Matthew Perry
We pay our respects to the late star of Friends in this segment that explores Perry’s many talents and why his death hits so hard.
3. November TV preview
The programming slowdown hasn’t really hit in terms of November’s big TV bows as a bunch of prestige TV series, including For All Mankind, The Curse, The Crown and Fargo, all arrive in the month ahead.
4. Showrunner Spotlight
Married creators/showrunners Amber Noizumi and Michael Green join us to discuss their Netflix animated adult drama Blue Eye Samurai, which was inspired by the birth of the couple’s daughter. The violent and sexual tones are a clear indicator that the show is not for a young audience as the duo say they’re courting the Game of Thrones audience for the series, which they envision running for four seasons. Go inside the years-long process of the samurai drama, which they describe as Yentl meets Kill Bill in this 30-minute interview.
5. Critic’s Corner
As usual, we end with Dan’s thoughts on this week’s new and returning series. In this episode, he weighs in on Taylor Sheridan’s Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Amazon’s Invincible and Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai.
Hear it all now on TV’s Top 5. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode. (Reviews welcome!) You can also email us with any topics or Mailbag questions you’d like addressed in future episodes at TVsTop5@THR.com.
