Ask Matt: Ending ‘Blue Bloods,’ Streaming ‘Doctor Who’ & More
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, but there’s always closed-captioning.)
One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected] and follow me on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush). Look for Ask Matt columns on most Tuesdays and very occasional Fridays.
Question: I couldn’t believe the sad news that Blue Bloods is being canceled. It was an incredible show with a great main cast, wonderful supporting characters and fantastic guest characters. What makes the cancellation even worse is that the final season is going to be an abbreviated one. How can they do this to us loyal fans? If they had known Season 14 would be the final season, I wish they would have had Erin run for District Attorney and have Eddie take the detective’s test, or maybe she and Jamie could have been planning to have a baby with the birth during the series finale. There was mention in the article about a two-part season but there was no explanation given. Does that mean the final season might continue into next September or maybe in the summer? Friday nights won’t be the same without this fantastic series. — Rob R.
Matt Roush: I’m sure CBS shares your sentiment. No one likes to see the end of a successful series that has become a habit for millions, on Friday nights no less. But here’s where I split hairs a bit. When a series announces its final season well in advance, I don’t view it as a cancellation as much as a natural ending. And knowing ahead of production that these will be the final 18 episodes — 10 starting in February, the remaining eight reportedly airing next fall — the writers and producers can build to the end with stories that might even intersect with Rob’s wish list, too early to say right now. Far worse would have been the show going off the air without any fanfare, and that’s not going to happen with Blue Bloods.
The upcoming 14th season — and 15th, if we count the abbreviated fall run separately — was already a difficult negotiation, with budget cuts reportedly causing the cast and top producers to take a significant pay cut, as much as 25%, to keep the lights on for another year. At some point this becomes unsustainable, especially at a time following the pandemic and strike disruptions when the networks and their parent companies are trying to rein in costs. The bottom line is the bottom line, and no show lasts forever — although who knows about The Simpsons. There’s still a lot of story left to be told in Blue Bloods, although there’s no doubt that the last meal around the Reagan dinner table is going to be an emotional one for everyone.
Doctor in a Streaming Universe
Question: Nothing has driven it home that we are in a brave new world in TV as the fact that after 60 years I have to go behind a paywall to watch Doctor Who. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to make the move. Just tell me that Disney had nothing to do with the production of these episodes and are just paying the BBC for distribution rights. The fourth season of Torchwood (produced by STARZ, not the BBC) still gives me stomach pains when I think about it. — Rick C.
Matt Roush: Doctor Who is still very much a BBC production, and while I’m not sure how brave this new world is, it does seem an inevitability that many shows once available on broadcast or basic cable and other accessible platforms will eventually migrate to streaming (although most platforms have free trial periods if you’d rather wait and binge). I can only add my recommendation that it is wonderful to have David Tennant back as the Doctor, even for a limited time, reuniting with Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble. I’m looking forward to the next two 60th-anniversary specials before the inevitable regeneration to the Fifteenth Doctor ensues.
Not Ready for These Lessons to End
Question: Do you think Lessons in Chemistry will be renewed for Season 2? – Alicia L.
Matt Roush: I doubt it. Lessons, based on the best-selling novel by Bonnie Garmus, was announced by Apple TV+ as a limited series, and if you watched the finale that dropped last week (suitably timed for Thanksgiving), it felt like a true and satisfying conclusion to the story of Elizabeth Zott (the wonderful Brie Larson). I’d also love to spend more time in her world, but sometimes it’s best to be left hungry for more.
Blind Spots in Streaming
Question: Now that NCIS: Los Angeles has ended, I was hoping to watch it from the beginning episodes as I’m now doing with NCIS: New Orleans. But L.A. is not even on the list of shows on Paramount+, it seems to have disappeared. My feeling is that the reruns will be on broadcast TV first, so I’ll have to be patient. Correct? — Lynda
Matt Roush: Yes, it seems your best bet for now is to dig into the repeats on USA Network and ION, though it might be tricky trying to catch it from the start. This is where I reveal my own blind spot, in that I don’t keep up with where most shows are streaming or syndicated after they’ve finished their run. I simply don’t have the bandwidth for that as well as keeping up with what’s currently airing on all of today’s many platforms. I have read that the syndication contract for NCIS: Los Angeles currently prohibits past seasons from being streamed anywhere, which if that’s the case might explain why it’s no longer available on its parent network and studio’s streamer.
Question: I enjoyed reading Henry Winkler’s biography Being Henry and now want to watch Happy Days. I have searched for a streamer that carries every season but can’t find one. (Season 1 seems to be missing.) Do you know why no service seems to carry it and where I might find it? Would love to see it from the very beginning and not start at Season 2. — Pablo
Matt Roush: Akin to the last question, I’m at a loss to explain why the outlets streaming Happy Days may not have licensing rights to the first season (which appears to be available for a relatively affordable price on DVD, if that’s an option). You might try a free streamer like Pluto, which has a dedicated Happy Days channel, to see if Season 1 episodes show up, but otherwise, you might have to buy and/or rent it to be able to watch episodes from when Chuck, Richie’s older brother, was still around at the beginning (and for Season 2, I guess).
And Finally …
Question: Happy holiday season, Matt! Did you by any chance watch the long-running British sketch comedy series The Two Ronnies on PBS in the ’70s? As a kid in New Jersey, I remember loving what I saw of it. Apparently, it is not available to stream anywhere. Hopefully, someone in the industry will see my plea to make it available. So, here goes. PLEA!!! — Mike
Matt Roush: If my local (Cincinnati) PBS station ever aired The Two Ronnies, I must not have been aware, being already amazed and amused during that period to be watching the new-to-us Monty Python’s Flying Circus on public TV with my high-school friends. But in the spirit of the season, I pass on your plea, and maybe one of the streamers specializing in British TV (BritBox, Acorn TV) will someday make your wish come true.
That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected] or shoot me a line on Twitter @TVGMMattRoush. (Please include a first name with your question.)
