'Kevin and Bean's' Gene 'Bean' Baxter and Allie Mac Kay are Back, and Hosting a New Podcast

As I write in Variety:

Former KROQ “Kevin and Bean” colleagues Gene “Bean” Baxter and Allie Mac Kay have reunited to launch a new podcast, “A Cup of Tea and a Chat with Allie & Bean.”

The show, which will post episodes three days a week, comes nearly a year after Baxter left “Kevin and Bean” and moved to London, and six months after KROQ yanked the successor program, “Kevin in the Morning with Allie and Jensen,” off the air.

Baxter and Kevin Ryder hosted “Kevin and Bean” on KROQ for nearly 30 years — since the start of 1990. After Baxter left, Ryder continued with Mac Kay (who had been with “Kevin & Bean” since 2015) and Jensen Karp, who joined in 2018.

But new KROQ management decided to pull the plug in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic got underway, and the station took a ratings and public relations hit as a result.

Since moving to London, Baxter has been hosting interviews and doing voice tracking for digital broadcaster Podcast Radio. Mac Kay and Baxter remained in contact, and she said she broached the idea of reteaming soon after KROQ ended “Kevin in the Morning.”

“We were fired in March, I believe I started pestering Bean in April,” Mac Kay said. “‘Hey Bean you ever thought about doing a podcast with an old friend that lives in Los Angeles?’ I think I probably mentioned it only about four or five times, really. And it would just kind of be in passing because if Bean doesn’t want to do something, he’ll totally change the subject. He won’t answer, and he wasn’t really answering and he was changing the subject. So I kind of let it go.“

Baxter said it took a bit of prodding, and hearing from “Kevin and Bean” fans.

“I didn’t think it was a bad idea, it just took me a long time to realize that it was a good idea,” he said.

Read more here.

KCRW's The Spin-Off: Recapping the Broadcast Network 2016 Upfronts

On the latest edition of KCRW's The Spin-Off, Joe and I are joined by the Hollywood Reporter's Dan Fienberg to talk about the network upfronts:

The network television upfronts are an annual ritual in New York where the broadcast networks present new and upcoming shows to advertisers. Even though the TV landscape is changing, the broadcasts networks are still by far the biggest game in town, and this year's upfronts were predicted to do about $9 billion worth of business.

In this episode, we share what looks like the high and low points of the coming TV season and if networks giving up some of their cable envy and embracing being big and broad is a good thing.

Then, Spin-off host Joe Adalian recently published a long read that's a look inside the business of "Peak TV." The landscape is growing in a way we haven't seen in years, which means it's easier to find work, but harder to get really rich, since the money is being more spread around.

We also talk about Michael Lombardo's recent departure from HBO and what it means for the cable network that's been struggling in the drama department recently. But don't freak out -- the network still rules comedy and has overcome drama dry spells before.

Listen below!

KCRW's The Spin-Off: ABC Shakeup, Pilot Season and More

On the latest edition of KCRW's The Spin-Off, Joe, Lesley Goldberg and I focus on what's up at ABC, and what's trending this pilot season:

There's been a shakeup at ABC. It was no secret that Paul Lee and his boss Ben Sherwood didn't always see eye to eye, but no one expected an ouster in the middle of pilot season. Lee did have some misses during his tenure, but on balance, he'll be remembered as a strong network president with a bold creative vision and an ability to truly increase diversity on ABC's shows.

His replacement is Channing Dungey, the former head of drama at ABC, and now the first African American to head a major broadcast network. She's known for her strong relationship with showrunner superstar Shonda Rhimes.

And to the dismay of many, pilot season does indeed still exist, and this year, among the 87 new pilots hoping to get series pickups, the family comedy is king. On the drama side, legal and crime thrillers are proving popular following the success of shows like The Jinx and Making a Murderer.

Listen below!

KCRW's THE-SPIN-OFF: November Edition (Listen Now!)

Thanks to Diane Gordon for posting this photo collage; she joins me and Joe Adalian for this month's edition of the monthly KCRW podcast "The Spin-Off." This month we chat about:

We spend a lot of time talking about shows we love, but this month we spend some time on shows that went splat. Biggest busts, biggest disappointments, and rom-coms that had us falling out of love.

And since we last gathered, there are now even more options for watching TV shows without a cable or even basic television package. Sony will roll out a streaming TV package called PlayStation Vue. We talk over the top content delivery and what that could mean for the ever-changing media landscape.

Finally, networks and patience are two words you may not think about putting together, but there certain shows that will be never be hits that networks keep renewing. What’s the thinking there?

We discuss all that and more, plus our monthly downloads -- the stories or shows most top of our minds this month.

Listen by clicking below!

"Serial": Your New Podcast Addiction

Did Adnan Syed really kill his ex-girlfriend in 1999? How did a jury convict based on the sketchy testimony of his former friend, Jay-- who seems like a pretty obvious suspect himself?

If you've been listening to Serial, the new weekly podcast from This American Life, you've been obsessing over this case in recent weeks. And waiting, impatiently, for Thursday morning, when a new episode arrives.

My pal Maria Elena Fernandez, over at NBC News, just posted an excellent story about why "Serial" has quickly become the No. 1 podcast on iTunes. An excerpt:

"Serial" -- the podcast co-founded by “This American Life” producers Sarah Koenig and Julia Snyder -- is a daring living piece of serious, journalistic work.

In her friendly, conversational tone, Koenig, the host, takes listeners along on her investigative ride—a journey that began a year ago when she became interested in the death of Hae Min Lee and thought it might be worthy of an episode of "This American Life." In each episode — released each Thursday morning — Koenig and her team continue to probe Lee's death and the conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed, who was tried as an adult and sentenced to life plus 30 years even though he was 17 when Lee was strangled. It is a case built on circumstantial evidence and teeming with unanswered questions, including, as “Serial” is revealing, whether Syed was wrongfully convicted.

Koenig, who came up with the idea for the spinoff, wanted the podcast to sound different than “This American Life” and have a live vibe, which is why she opted not to produce the episodes in advance. She writes episodes the week before they are released as she continues to dig for the truth.

“We have a sense of where we might be going but because we’re still reporting it, we’re open to the idea that it could be entirely wrong and we could take a hard left turn at some point in another direction,” said producer Dana Chivvis. “We would love to know what happened—whatever that truth is. By the end, Sarah has said she wants the listener to feel they’ve finished a really good book or they were engrossed by the world of the book or the story itself. We’d love to know this is exactly what happened. But if that doesn’t end up happening, I don’t think we’re going to feel dissatisfied.”

"Serial" has already spawned podcasts about the podcast. And a growing number of amateur sleuths are doing their own investigations online. It's been heartening for Washington, D.C. immigration attorney Rabia Chaudry, a friend of Syed’s who has been trying to spread the word for years about Syed's innocence.

Is Adnan Syed guilty? So far, at least, there seems to be enough reasonable doubt to bring into question why cops and prosecutors were so convinced that they had their guy. It looks like "Serial" will ultimately end with an unsatisfying conclusion -- Syed is still in jail as we speak, after all, and I haven't read about any attempts to re-open the case. But I'll be listening.

THE SPIN-OFF: Listen to the December Edition of Our Monthly KCRW TV-Centric Podcast

We have a name! We have a name! Welcome to "The Spin-Off," the TV podcast spinoff (natch) of KCRW's "The Business." Each month, Vulture's Joe Adalian, Variety's AJ Marechal and I sit down and give our spin (double natch) on the hot TV topics of the moment.

This month, we tackle the return of the big event frenzy at the networks, in light of the success of programs like NBC's "The Sound of Music Live." We also touch on the difference in violence on TV between broadcast and cable, as well as whether the content ratings are relevant. And then the three of us give our take on the top TV stories of the year. (Hint: "Netflix" is mentioned a few times.)

Listen below, or just go ahead and subscribe to either THE BUSINESS or THE SPIN-OFF podcasts on iTunes (or wherever you download podcasts).

KCRW's TV Podcast -- the November Edition: Marvel/Netflix, Ratings and Reality TV

We're back! And still untitled. (If you have an idea for what to call our podcast, leave a comment!) On this month's TV podcast edition of KCRW's "The Business," Variety's AJ Marechal, Vulture's Joe Adalian and I talk about Netflix's mega Marvel deal; how the networks are looking to get paid and get advertisers to embrace more extended DVR ratings; and what's next for the moribund reality TV genre.

Listen below!