HBO declines to renew contract with 'Sesame Street'

It's Sunday, so it's time for an entertainment feature. I know I wrote that I would stay away from topical posts for the rest of January, but seeing "Defund PBS" trend on X reminded me that HBO has decided not to renew its deal with Sesame Workshop, formerly Children's Television Workshop, to fund new episodes of Sesame Street and show them first on HBO and now Max before moving to PBS. Take it away CNBC!



HBO ends deal with Sesame Street: Here's why
I embedded that because it's CNBC and has an informative preview image, but it didn't have an informative description. For that, I'm turning to USA Today reporting HBO says goodbye to 'Sesame Street'.

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind "Sesame Street," is looking for a new distributor after HBO decided against renewing the series.

CNBC's video wasn't as informative, as it was mostly anchor banter that devolved into Joe Kernan sniping at Becky Quick's husband, making me wonder if he is a bit jealous/envious of him. I don't have to wonder if he's a bit of a jerk; he is. Add this to his views having annoyed me twice before and that's three strikes against him.

However, this isn't the immediate end of Sesame Street. Collider reported that "Max's license for episodes continues through 2027, and this month you can still see new episodes from Season 55 on Max." There is still hope beyond then, as Collider also reported "it is expected that major streamers like Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV+ will all want it." I'll do my best to follow through on the eventual distributor.

On the other hand, it does portend the end of the relationship I first described in CNN defends Big Bird after Ted Cruz calls one of the character's tweets 'Propaganda,' a pandemic update: "It's not just news value that's driving it." I expect CNN will no longer be defending Sesame Street after 2027. That will be up to us, along with its new distributor.

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' added to Critics' Choice Awards, some critics object

Paul Krugman and the awards shows on 'The Big Short' ended with me noting that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" got added to the Best Movie category at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards in a special vote.  Wochit has the story in The Force Awakens Receives Late Nomination For Critics' Choice Award For Best Picture.

After an unprecedented vote by members, the Broadcast Film Critics Association had added Star Wars: The Force Awakens to the list of nominees for the 2015 Critics' Choice Award for Best Picture. When Critic's Choice Awards nominations came out last Monday, most of the critics in the association had not seen the latest Star Wars movie, since Disney had refused to release copies for early screenings. However, the strong positive reaction to the film led the BFCA to take a vote on whether it should be allowed in as a late inclusion, and apparently the BFCA voted in the Force Awakens' favor.

The film was absent from the Golden Globes nomination list as well because advance screenings for critics weren't available in time for the nomination deadline.  The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who run the "drinky Oscars" didn't accomodate the film, but the Critics' Choice Awards did.  Considering that the American Film Institute honored "The Force Awakens" as one of its top ten films of the year and this decision follows the precedent of adding 'Castaway' to the list in 2000, the BFCA probably made the right call.

Not all members of the BFCA agreed.  Follow over the jump for their reactions.