By Susan Hornik

BYE BYE, BYRDE
The final entry in Netflix’s breakout crime-drama series, Ozark, which follows a financial advisor (Jason Bateman) as he moves or drags, rather his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks to launder money for a drug cartel, has arrived. Season four will be split into two seven-episode halves, and the first part premiered on January 21.
“We didn’t want to repeat ourselves,” said show runner Chris Mundy of the reason to call it quits after four seasons. “We didn’t want the show to feel like it was continuing because it was a TV show and it had to continue. So really the decision has always been between is it four [seasons] or is it five, and then Netflix hit upon the idea of saying, ‘We’ll do four but we’ll make it long and split it in this way,’ and that felt perfect.” Bateman, who won the SAG Award for Male Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Marty Byrde last year, told EW, “A supersized season means super-sized problems for the Byrdes. I’m excited to end with a bang(s).” Most of the cast returned, along with a few new and duplicitous faces.

RE-MARK YOUR CALENDARS
The pandemic continues to force many of the major award events to be postponed or rearranged as a virtual ceremony. The Recording Academy pushed the Grammys originally scheduled for the end of January – to an unknown date this spring. In an official statement, the academy decided this “after careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community, and our many partners. Given the uncertainty surrounding the omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks.”

The Critics Choice Awards were also postponed due to COVID-19.

The organization said they are “in regular communication with L.A. County Public Health officials, and we are currently working diligently to find a new date during the upcoming awards season in which to host our annual gala in person with everyone’s safety and health remaining our top priority.”

PBS PRESENTS…
While COVID-19 has greatly impacted the ability to see Broadway musicals, PBS has several fascinating upcoming specials that will satiate any theater buffs. Highlights this spring include:

A musical celebration of the legendary songwriting duo, Lerner & Loewe, featuring music from their most epic shows including My Fair Lady, Gigi, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon, and Brigadoon. The program includes performances by Broadway and television celebrities like Tony nominee Jenn Colella, Broadway’s Aisha Jackson, Michael Maliakel, Maestro Luke Frazier, and the American Pops Orchestra.

The production of GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: Fire Shut Up in My Bones showcases the Metropolitan Opera’s return for its 2021- 22 season following the shutdown. Grammy award winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s moving memoir marks the first staging of an opera by a Black compser in the Met’s 141-year history.

ON YOUR MARK…
While international travel remains precarious, wander lusters can still visit exotic destinations in CBS’ The Amazing Race, which premiered for its 33rd season on January 5. Phil Keoghan, host and executive producer, is still amped about the popular series two decades after its original debut.

“When we started 20 years ago, it was mind-blowing,” he said at the Television Critics Press Tour. “I’ll always be thankful to the producers for coming up with a great idea that fits right in with my passion for travel and people. And I would not believe that we would still be here 20 years later, with a show that feels as fresh as the day we started it.”

He continued: “It’s never the same. I think if I was doing a studio show and was going in and doing the same thing over and over again, rinsing and repeating the same format over and over again, I would definitely have gotten stale on the idea. It feels, honestly, maybe more relevant today.”

BACK ON THE RANCH
The fourth season of Paramount’s uber popular ranch soap, Yellowstone, is premiering on Bluray and DVD this spring, much to the delight of viewers who are vying to know who shot John Dutton. All ten hour-long episodes are included, plus over four hours of bonus content, including making-of featurettes, behind the scenes clips, and exclusive interviews with Kevin Costner and the cast.

After receiving 14 million+ viewers to become the most-watched season premiere on cable since The Walking Dead, Yellowstone has also birthed a prequel series called 1883, which stars Sam Elliott, Billy Bob Thornton, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill, and is now a breakout hit on streaming service Paramount+. Both series are written and directed by Taylor Sheridan.

Sheridan is one busy guy. With both projects red hot at the moment, Paramount gave him the green light to work on other series, like the crime drama, Mayor of Kingstown, another Yellowstone spino called 6666, a drama about Texas oil rigging, and a new drama, Kansas City, starring Sylvester Stallone.