Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY January 31, 2023.

Where a rest in peace goes out to Cindy Williams, who died last week at 75 years old. She of course was half of one of the most memorable sitcom duos in TV history… from an era of TV history that put a sitcom about 2 women who work in a brewery, set in Milwaukee, on primetime TV.

Having one of the most iconic theme songs of all time certainly didn’t hurt…

FWIW: Network TV is now airing 6 multi-cam (seemingly) in-front-of-an-audience sitcoms to my count. 4 of them are among Top 6 rated comedies on TV.

AND: Robert Zemeckis will “de-age” Tom Hanks & Robin Wright for his next movie “Here”, using that Tom Cruise DeepFake tech (@deeptomcruise). Forget “have they had work done” rumors… “did they use AI tech” will be the rumor mill of the late 2020s and beyond.

IN TODAY’S EDITION:

• SHOWTIME pulls an HBOMAX-style series purging of previous series, as PAR+ w/SHO rebrand is announced - inside the details

• SPOTIFY still not making money, but Advertising leads to record user growth - A #MediaNerd🤓 breakdown

• WWE has record-breaking Royal Rumble weekend

• ROKU & WBD set large library content deal. Oh hi “Westworld” 👋

• Jason Bateman sets up next directorial outing at WB

• Add NASCAR rights as in play for a Streaming deal?

• HULU ends Steven Levitan series

• YES Network next big RSN up for DtoC Streaming

• AUSTRALIA looks to set EURO-style production quotas on streamers, and more. Phew.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

WB sets Jason Bateman to direct BAD ROBOT pic “The Pinkerton”

This is described as a “supernatural revenge-Western hybrid” so… 🤷‍♂️, but it is somehow related to the famous security service dating back to the mid 1850s, that also provided security for Abe Lincoln at some point.

The spec was picked up 2 years ago, written by Daniel Casey (“F9”). /Deadline

ALSO IN MOVIES