Paramount+ has packed inventory of shows when it gets up and running | Buckler’s Airtime

There will be more treasures than people can possibly watch, unless they decide to give up sleep for the next millennium. Technically, Paramount+ is not a new service — it’s a new name and rebranding of an existing service, CBS All Access.

With the new name, however, comes new programming. Just like its competitors — Peacock, HBO Max, Disney+, Netflix and Hulu, to name a few — the services will offer programming viewers won’t be able to get anywhere else.

The playbook of Paramount+, however, is overwhelming. It’s difficult to know where to start.

• There will be a reboot of “Frasier,” an Emmy Award-winning comedy. Kelsey Grammer returns to the role that made him famous.

•  “60 Minutes,” which has been network TV’s highest-rated news magazine for more than 40 years, will have a streaming version on Paramount+ that will be different from the CBS version.

•  “Criminal Minds” returns for a 10-part limited season that will bring back many members of the original cast.

•  A new “Star Trek” series will blast off the launching pad. “Star Trek: Strange New World” will feature Captain Christopher Pike at the helm, 10 years before the arrival of Captain James Kirk.

•  A new limited series, “The Offer,” will tell the story of Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy’s experience making “The Godfather.” There already has been some controversy surrounding this movie after Armie Hammer walked away from a starring role.

•  A TV version of the blockbuster ’80s movie “Flashdance” will start where the movie ended.

•  The new network also has plenty of sports in the locker room, including the most prestigious sports programming of them all, The National Football League. The Masters golf tournament, NCAA basketball and SEC football also is on the dance card.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

There are two programming forms that will not be available — local sports and local weather. Local CBS affiliates, including WFSB-TV3, are not part of the new service.

But almost everything else is. If it’s not an infomercial, there’s a good chance you’ll see it on Paramount+.

There’s one more important detail up for discussion — the price. When things get rolling in July, Paramount + will cost $5 per month with commercials and $10 per month without commercials.

It doesn’t seem like much — for one service. But add up the subscription fees of all the other networks you might wish to subscribe and the cost keeps rising.

That’s the bad news. There also is, however, some good news — the choices keep increasing.

If you remember the old days of three networks that existed until the mid-’70s, your head probably is spinning too.

Few CW shows these days get audiences in seven figures. So when the premiere of “Superman & Lois” attracted 1.7 million viewers for Tuesday’s debut, CW executives had to be smiling.

The show didn’t reach the 2.3 million viewer number the premiere of “Walker” generated earlier in the month, but it’s better than most CW shows. Of course, it had more publicity than most CW shows.

While most shows lose viewers in their second outing, “Superman & Lois” received many positive reviews. That should limit audience depreciation.

The interesting part of the debut is that Superman isn’t the series’ most interesting character, That distinction would go to his two teenage sons.

If the new “Superman” can combine teen drama and action, it could have a strong future. The bar isn’t set too high at the CW — Superman should have no trouble flying over it.

Reporter George Colli has worked for several state media outlets during his broadcasting career. And he’s about to add another one— WTIC-AM1080.

Colli announced on his Facebook page that he’ll be filling in for Will Marotti. He hosted the 9 a.m. to noon show today and will be the host again Friday.

Colli hasn’t been on the air for almost one year so he is glad to gave a broadcasting opportunity.

“This will be the first time I’ve been back on that side of the mike since COVID started and I’ve got a lot of questions and observations to bring up,” Colli wrote.

Colli is probably best known for his reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings when he worked at WVIT-TV30.

It’s nice to have him back on local media, even if its only for two days.