TV Talk: Beaver County teen’s ‘Idol’ streak continues

Morgan Gruber of Franklin Township, Beaver County, made it through a second week of ABC’s “American Idol” in the season’s first Hollywood Week episode Monday night.

Gruber was barely featured in the episode but she could be glimpsed briefly singing Demi Lovato’s “Anyone” as part of the pop performers genre. Afterward, judge Katy Perry complimented Gruber, saying, “I don’t know why she’s not sitting up there,” pointing to contestants who earned platinum tickets, one level higher than Gruber’s golden ticket.

The 17-year-old Riverside High School senior from Fombell will have her next appearance on “Idol” on April 3.

I made it to the next round! If you thought this round was intense, you won't believe #Duets! Tune in next Sunday and Monday to @AmericanIdol to see who makes it out of #HollywoodWeek and into the #Top24! Wish me luck!! ???? #MorganOnIdol #MorganGruber pic.twitter.com/GVxWtJFLCI

— Morgan Gruber (@itsmorgangruber) March 29, 2022

‘Julia’

While we can blame the streaming revolution for too much TV content today we also have to credit it with moving series beyond the demand for programming targeted at the advertiser-coveted 18-49-year-old demographic (then again, with many streamers adding a lower-priced commercial-supported tier, the requirement that shows skew young may not be gone for good).

For instance, HBO Max’s “Julia” is a perfectly pleasant show about the rise of PBS mainstay Julia Child that probably would never have gotten past the pitch at an ad-supported network since Child is a figure many members of the key demographic probably don’t know.

But for a streaming service that doesn’t care about age as long as subscribers keep paying their monthly fee, “Julia” is an easier proposition.

The eight-episode series debuts with three episodes Thursday (then one each Thursday through May 5) that lay the groundwork for Child’s success.

British actress Sarah Lancashire (“Happy Valley”) stars as Julia with David Hyde Pierce (“Frasier”) as her husband. Created and written by Daniel Goldfarb (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) with Chris Keyser (“Party of Five”) as showrunner, “Julia” is a pretty straight-forward bio-series that offers some observations on gender and race but nothing viewers haven’t heard before in a 1960s-set show.

“Julia” is by no means a must-see series but it will be a want-to-see show for a segment of the audience that’s historically been undervalued by ad-supported TV networks.

Channel surfing

Ratings for Sunday’s Oscars telecast on ABC rebounded from their 2021 low of 10.5 million viewers to 15.4 million viewers in early ratings released Monday. … An eight-episode limited series sequel to “The Full Monty” featuring the original film’s cast is now filming for Hulu. … Season one of Fred Rogers Productions’ “Odd Squad”now airs in France.

You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow Rob on Twitter or Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.