Sep 7, 2026 · 1h 17m
Fall TV’s economics collide with Lanterns’ franchise ambitions
The Fall TV We’re Most Excited For. Plus, ‘Lanterns’ E4 and ‘Lioness’ After Dark.
The episode connects television’s changing business model to the creative risks and limits facing ambitious genre series.
- 1The Creative Arts Emmys expose an industry shaped by rising costs, longer gaps, and shorter seasons.
- 2The fall preview favors richly established worlds alongside new shows that could bring stranger voices and tonal combinations.
- 3Lanterns earns praise for its performances and comic-book invention while Lioness loses ground through fractured structure and overt messaging.
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The Lanterns discussion crystallizes around the show’s shift into a funny, strange buddy-cop dynamic between John Stewart and Hal.
The brief
The Creative Arts Emmys become a lens on television’s new economics, where expensive production, long waits between seasons, and shorter orders reshape what shows can be.
Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald’s fall preview balances returning pleasures such as Black Doves and Slow Horses with new bets including Profits, Tiptoe, Youth, and Get Jiro.
The hosts also test lower-confidence wild cards, from Vision Quest to American Hostage, Kill Jackie, and High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam Hussein.
Lanterns’ fourth episode wins them over with dense mythology, strange set pieces, strong performances, and a newly effective buddy-cop rhythm between John Stewart and Hal.
Their midseason verdict is sharply qualified: Lanterns is unusually watchable but may remain trapped by franchise obligations, while Lioness frustrates with split timelines and overt politics.