7 TCA Takeaways: Murder, Musicals, and Maybe Netflix Secrets

The Television Critics Association winter press tour has come to an end, letting entertainment reporters get back to their lives and relieving Twitter users from that pesky #TCA16 hashtag.

TheWrap‘s TV Team learned a lot during our (lengthy) time in the Langham Huntington Pasadena ballroom, but we’ve boiled it all down to 7 digestible takeaways and trends.

Read below to find out what exactly we’ve been doing since Jan. 5:

Also Read: What 'The Family' Creator Jenna Bans Learned From Former Boss Shonda Rhimes

Drying Stream?
Netflix had better release some numbers soon on how many people watch its shows, or someone else will do it. That was the lesson last week as NBC research guru Alan Wurtzel offered reporters some unflattering data quantifying the streaming service’s viewership.

Days later, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos dismissed the data as “remarkably inaccurate.” But he admitted that if someone is willing to pay enough money for the secret Netflix numbers, they can probably be figured out. So, pony up, broadcast nets.

Also Read: Netflix's Ted Sarandos Blasts Secret Ratings Reveal: 'Remarkably Inaccurate Data'

Song-and-Dance Men (And Women)
Live musicals are all the rage these days. NBC’s Bob Greenblatt is really into the genre, clearly, making hits of “The Wiz Live” and “Sound of Music Live.” (“Peter Pan Live” did decently.) The broadcast boss, a self-proclaimed theater fiend, announced during TCA that “Hairspray” is next for his network, as long as it can finalize the necessary deals.

Fox is all-in, too. “Grease: Live” is coming soon, and the good-looking adaptation looks capable of breaking records — at least on social media. Fox’s musical event “The Passion,” meanwhile, has strong trainwreck potential, because it will be shot at multiple outdoor New Orleans locations.

Also Read: Live Outdoor Fox Musical 'The Passion' Ready for Bad New Orleans Weather: 'It's Rain or Shine'

Working Big to Small (Screen)
Despite some movie-to-TV adaptations — such as Fox’s “Minority Report” — floundering this fall, CBS found moderate success with its take on the Bradley Cooper film “Limitless.” The network will next pair Justin Hires and Jon Foo in a “Rush Hour” adaptation.

Also Read: 'Rush Hour' Producer Bill Lawrence Clashes With Reporter Over Racial Stereotypes

The Miniseries of the Century?
The trial that captured the nation’s attention is returning to TV, and this time, the drama will be scripted.

Cuba Gooding Jr. plays pro athlete-turned actor-turned murder suspect O.J. Simpson, leading an all-star cast that includes John Travolta, Sarah Paulson, and David Schwimmer. The whole thing hails from executive producer Ryan Murphy, and couldn’t be more must-see.

Also Read: 'The People v. OJ Simpson' EPs Explain Their 'Little Sprinkling' of Kardashian Kids

Another Trial by Fire
Steven Avery became an instant cause célèbre upon the premiere of Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” documentary series, spawning endless petitions and calls for exoneration. But just two weeks after the series’ debut, the filmmakers found themselves on the defensive at TCA.

Why did they omit seemingly importance evidence? Do they believe in “advocacy journalism”? Having to defend their film and their decisions certainly puts Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi in an interesting position as Netflix contemplates a follow-up.

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer' Filmmakers: Doc Is Not 'Advocacy Journalism'

Pasadena is Still Shondaland
Shonda Rhimes may not have been physically present at TCA this time around, but her massive influence on the TV industry was evident nonetheless. ABC debuted a first look at Shondaland’s “The Catch” during Paul Lee’s executive session on Saturday, and former “Grey’s Anatomy” writer Jenna Bans fielded more than a few Shonda-related questions while discussing her upcoming series “The Family.”

Rhimes’ name came up again on Thursday when Eva Longoria, star of NBC’s “Telenovela,” held up the debut of “Grey’s” in 2005 as a “turning point” for diversity on the small screen.

Also Read: Why ABC Family Became Freeform

So, Just a New Name?
ABC Family/Freeform’s promise that no content changes would accompany its rebrand proved true. Panels for new shows “Shadowhunters” and “Recovery Road” suggested the shows would fit in just fine with “Pretty Little Liars” and “The Fosters.”

Freeform will also continue to air “The 700 Club,” as every iteration of the network has since 1961. So, the more things change.

Scene at TCA 2016 Winter Press Tour (Updating Photos)

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EPs Brad Simpson, Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, co-EP Anthony M. Hemingway, Consultant Jeffrey Toobin, and actors Sarah Paulson, John Travolta and Cuba Gooding Jr. on stage for FX's "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" panel on Jan. 16
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Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys on stage for FX's "The Americans" panel on Jan. 16
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Jay Baruchel and Eric Andre on stage for FX's "Man Seeking Woman" panel on Jan. 16
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Creator/star Donald Glover on stage for FX's "Atlanta" panel on Jan. 16
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Co-creators/EPs Zach Galifianakis and Louis C.K. for FX's "Baskets" panel on Jan. 16
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FX CEO John Landgraf on stage during his executive session on Jan. 16
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Actors Rebecca Liddiard, Micahel Weston, Stephen Mangan, Co-Creator/EP David Hoselton, EP David Shore and Co-Creator/EP David Titcher on stage for Fox's "Houdini & Doyle" panel on Jan. 15
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Stars Vanessa Hudgens, Aaron Tveit and Julianne Hough on stage for Fox's "Grease: Live" panel on Jan. 15
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Actors James Earl, Charlie Saxton and Meaghan Rath on stage for Fox's "Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life" panel on Jan. 15
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EP Adam Anders, Host/Narrator Tyler Perry, EP Mark Bracco and EP/Creator Jacco Doornbos on stage for Fox's "The Passion" panel on Jan. 15
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Dilshad Vadsaria, Tim DeKay and Rob Kazinsky on stage for Fox's "Second Change" panel on Jan. 15
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Host Ryan Seacrest and judges Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez on stage for Fox's "American Idol" panel on Jan. 15
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Actor Tom Ellis and EP Joe Henderson on stage for Fox's "Lucifer" panel on Jan. 15
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David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson on stage for Fox's "The X-Files" panel on Jan. 15
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Amber Grimes and Nick Cannon on stage for Oxygen's "Like a Boss" panel on Jan. 14
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EPs Philip D. Segal, Kevin Williams and investors Lauren Maillian, Randi Zuckerberg, Ido Leffler and Sarah Prevette on Oxygen's "Quit Your Day Job" panel on Jan. 14
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Actor Kieran Bew on stage for Esquire's "Beowulf" panel on Jan. 14
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Candis Cayne, Caitlyn Jenner and Ella Giselle on stage for E!'s "I Am Cait" panel on Jan. 14
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Nathan Phillips, Britne Oldford and Julian McMahon on stage for Syfy's "Hunters" panel on Jan. 14
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Stars Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta, Summer Bishil, Jason Ralph, Stella Maeve and EPs Michael London, Sera Gamble and John McNamara for Syfy's "The Magicians" panel on Jan. 14
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Christian Slater on stage during USA's "Mr. Robot" panel on Jan. 14
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EPs Ryan Condal and Carlton Cuse for USA's "Colony" on Jan. 14
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Jamie Kennedy, Maya Erskine and Joshua Leonard, Melissa George, Dave Annable and Co-EP Dr. Kathy Magliato on stage for NBC's "Heartbeat" panel on Jan. 13
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Executive producer and star Eva Longoria and actor Jencarlos Canela on stage for NBC's "Telenovela" panel on Jan. 13
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NBC's "Game of Silence" panel on stage on Jan. 13
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Executive producer Dick Wolf on stage for NBC's panel about "Chicago Med," "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago PD" on Jan. 13
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Actress Miranda Cosgrove on stage for NBC's "Crowded" panel on Jan. 13
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Jennifer Lopez on stage for NBC's "Shades of Blue" panel on Jan. 13
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America Ferrera and Ben Feldman on stage for NBC's "Superstore" panel on Jan. 13
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Mark McKinnon on stage for Showtime's "The Circus" panel on Jan. 12
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Luke Wilson, Carla Gugino and Imogene Poots on stage for Showtime's "Roadies" panel on Jan. 12
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EP Bill Lawrence, EP Blake McCormick, EP Steve Franks, and actors Wendie Malick, Page Kennedy, Justin Hires, Jon Foo, and Aimee Garcia for CBS's "Rush Hour" panel on Jan. 12
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Daniel Henney on stage for CBS's "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders" panel on Jan. 12
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CBS News panel on Jan. 12
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Chairman CBS Sports Sean McManus, "The Super Bowl Today" host James Brown, analyst Phil Simms, announcer Jack Whitaker and announcer Jim Nantz on stage for CBS Sports panel on Jan. 12
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Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney for Amazon's "Catastrophe" panel on Jan. 11
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Director Alex Gibney and producer Kahane Cooperman for Amazon's "The New Yorker Presents" panel on Jan. 11
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Titus Welliver for Amazon's "Bosch" panel on Jan. 11
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Ben Chaplin for Amazon's "Mad Dogs" panel on Jan. 11
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Alycia Debnam-Carey on stage for CW's "The 100" panel on Jan. 10
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Actor David Gyasi on stage for CW's "Containment" panel on Jan. 10
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CW's "Legends of Tomorrow" panel on Jan. 10
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Executive producers Jennie Snyder Urman and Aline Brosh McKenna for the CW's "Jane the Virgin" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" on Jan. 10
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ABC's "American Crime" panel on Jan. 9
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Martha Plimpton on ABC's "The Real O'Neals" panel on Jan. 9
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Stars Juliette Lewis and Michael Ealy on ABC's "Secrets and Lies" panel on Jan. 9
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Mike Epps and Nia Long on ABC's "Uncle Buck" panel on Jan. 9
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Executive producer Jenna Bans and star Andrew McCarthy on ABC's "The Family" panel on Jan. 9
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Executive producer Reza Aslan on ABC's "Of Kings and Prophets" panel on Jan. 9
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Dominic Sherwood and Katherine McNamara on Freeform's "Shadowhunters" panel on Jan. 9
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Freeform's "Recovery Road" panel on Jan. 9
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Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan, and Hugh Dancy on stage for Hulu's "The Path" panel on Jan. 9
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Producers Anthony Zuiker, Darren Star and Robert Thomas on stage during Hulu's "Great Shows, New Audiences" panel on Jan. 9
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Actors James Franco and Josh Duhamel on stage for Hulu's "11.22.63" on Jan. 9
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Series creator Tom Rob Smith on stage for BBC America's "London Spy" panel on Jan. 8
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Creator Peter Moffat on BBC America's "Undercover" panel on Jan. 8
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Producer Huw Cordey on BBC America's "The Hunt" panel on Jan. 8
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Host Chris Evans for BBC America's "Top Gear" panel on Jan. 8
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Executive producer John Legend on stage for WGN America's "Underground" panel on Jan. 8
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Series creator Peter Mattei, EP Peter Tolan and stars Ryan Hurst, Gillian Alexy, David Morse, Kyle Gallner and Christina Jackson for WGN America's "Outsiders" panel on Jan. 8
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"Outlander" stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan on stage on Jan. 8
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Actor Toby Stephens on stage for Starz's "Black Sails" panel on Jan. 8
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EP Steven Soderbergh, actress Riley Keough and EP Amy Seimetz on stage for "The Girlfriend Experience" on Jan. 8
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Anthony Hopkins on stage during Starz's "The Dresser" panel on Jan. 8
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Starz CEO Chris Albrecht on stage during his executive session on Jan. 8
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President, TBS and TNT and Chief Creative Officer, Turner Entertainment, Kevin Reilly during executive session on Jan. 7
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Jake Weary, Finn Cole, Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, Ben Robson and Shawn Hatosy speak on stage during TNT's "Animal Kingdom" panel on Jan. 7
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"The Detour" star and EP Jason Jones and star Natalie Zea on stage for TBS comedy on Jan. 7
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"Full Frontal" host Samantha Bee and EP Jo Miller on stage for TBS late night show on Jan. 7
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"Angie Tribeca" stars Rashida Jones and Hayes MacArthur on stage on Jan. 7
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Khloe Kardashian on stage for her FYI talk show "Kocktails With Khloe" on Jan. 6
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Paul Dano, Lily James and James Norton during A&E's "War & Peace" panel on Jan. 6
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Writer and director Benjamin Ross and actor Sean Bean on stage during A&E's "The Frankenstein Chronicles" panel on Jan. 6
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Bradley James on stage during Lifetime's "Damien" panel on Jan. 6
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Shiri Appleby, Constance Zimmer and Craig Bierko on stage during Lifetime's "UnREAL" panel on Jan. 6
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Host Craig Ferguson and EP Brian Vok-Weiss speak on stage during History's "Join or Die" panel on Jan. 6
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Viceland creative director Spike Jonze introduces new network's panel on Jan. 6
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Viceland creative director Spike Jonze and the network's hosts speak on stage on Jan. 6
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John Rhys-Davies speaks on stage for MTV's "The Shannara Chronicles" on Jan. 6
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Nikki Glaser on stage for Comedy Central's "Not Safe With Nikki Glaser" on Jan. 6
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Stars Sutton Foster and Hilary Duff speak on stage during TV Land's "Younger" panel on Jan. 6
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Improv group The Katydids (Caitlin Barlow, Katy Colloton, Cate Freedman, Kate Lambert, Katie O'Brien, Kathryn Renee Thomas) and EPs Alison Brie and Jay Martel speak on stage during TV Land's "Teachers" panel on Jan. 6
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"Chasing Destiny" EP Jason Sands, host Kelly Rowland, creative director/choreographer Frank Gatson and EP Danny Rose speak on stage on Jan. 6
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Brandy Norwood speaks onstage during the BET "Zoe Ever After" panel on Jan. 6
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Connor Schell (left), senior vice president and executive producer for ESPN Films, and Ezra Edelman, director of "OJ: Made In America" on Jan. 5
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Vince Vaughn, executive producer of "The '85 Bears," speaks during the ESPN Films "30 for 30" panel on Jan. 5
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"Rough Draft" host Reza Aslan speaks alongside writer Norman Lear on Jan. 5
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