This week’s ‘TV’s Top 5’ also previews the Oscars and looks at the new strategies coming into focus at Freeform and TruTV.

Jake Paul

Welcome to the 251st episode of TV’s Top 5, The Hollywood Reporter’s TV podcast.

Every week, hosts Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) and Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic) break down the latest TV news with context from the business and critical sides, welcome showrunners, executives and other guests, and provide a critical guide of what to watch (or skip, as the case may be).

Here’s how this week’s episode plays out:

1. Headlines

Upload, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Tracker, Young Sheldon, Amanda Knox, Tim Allen, Dick Wolf and The Brothers Sun highlight the week’s top TV industry headlines.

2. Netflix steps into the ring

The streaming giant, fresh off The Netflix Slam and The Netflix Cup, is stepping into the ring with Jake Paul and Mike Tyson for what its billing as a “boxing mega event.” This segment explores why the streamer continues to invest in sports- and sports-adjacent programming — and reveals Dan to be a very big boxing fan.

3. Freeform’s new focus?

What happens to Freeform after its remaining scripted shows are done? We have our first indicator of what the female-skewing basic cable network will look like and, spoiler alert, it’s a lot like Hulu. Plus TruTV’s new focus comes into light.

4. Oscars preview

Sunday is Hollywood’s biggest night as Jimmy Kimmel returns to host the Academy Awards. In this segment, Dan explores the frontrunners and makes one wish for the film industry’s take on the Emmys.

5. Critic’s Corner

As usual, we end with Dan’s thoughts on this week’s new and returning series. In this episode, he weighs in on Netflix’s The Gentlemen, Hulu’s Extraordinary and Tubi’s Boarders.

Hear it all now on TV’s Top 5. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode. (Reviews welcome!) You can also email us with any topics or Mailbag questions you’d like addressed in future episodes at [email protected].