DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And I'm David Greene. You know, I'm hosting this week from here at NPR West in Culver City, Calif. And that means seeing many great colleagues who are out here. And it includes NPR TV critic Eric Deggans, who is in town for the TV Critic Association's Winter Press Tour in LA. And he's with me in the studio here. Hey, Eric.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hey, Dave.
GREENE: So you and I were just talking about some of the stuff we should expect in 2016 when it comes to television. I figured maybe we should just not keep this to ourselves (laughter).
DEGGANS: I know.
GREENE: We should let our listeners in on your advice.
DEGGANS: There's so much great stuff out there.
GREENE: Yeah?
DEGGANS: Let's talk about it.
GREENE: Well, a big moment for "Sesame Street," - right? - I mean, decades that show on PBS and a show so important to so many kids. The show is moving and debuting on HBO. And I wonder, are we going to see a difference?
DEGGANS: I think we'll see a difference. I saw a difference in quality. It feels like the production is sharper. It feels as if the technology is sharper. The special effects are better. We see the legs of Muppets (laughter).
GREENE: OK.
DEGGANS: In the way that - we used to see it before, maybe it was a little, you know, less advanced.
GREENE: Wow, that's a nice tease. We see some legs of the Muppets.
DEGGANS: (Laughter) We see the legs of Muppets.
GREENE: Puppets showing a little leg.
DEGGANS: And what's also great is the people who had been making "Sesame Street" for PBS had always struggled with budgeting issues and funding. And now there's a sense that they have the kind of money to do the kind of show that you'd want to see for "Sesame Street." There's a sense that they're pulling out the stops. And these episodes will eventually make their way to PBS so that people can see them if they don't have HBO.
GREENE: OK, so based on the preview you've done, parents can rest assured that the sensibility of the show and sort of the culture of the show is still there.
DEGGANS: Yeah, I think parents and kids will really like it.
GREENE: Another HBO series we were talking about - it's new. It's "Vinyl." That's what it's called. Just looking at the executive producers - Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger - I mean, that's a combination.
DEGGANS: You've got to love it. I mean, you know, Scorsese's known for using classic rock in a lot of his films very effectively. So it makes sense that these two guys would team up to tell this story about the record industry in the '70s, when the record industry was really at its height.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "VINYL")
BOBBY CANNAVALE: (As Richie Finestra) I started this company from nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Right, and now we're selling it.
CANNAVALE: (As Richie Finestra) I'm talking about our dreams, man. You don't understand.
RAY RAMANO: (As Zak Yankovich) OK, here's what I do understand, Richie. You're high.
CANNAVALE: (As Richie Finestra) Yeah, I was - so what?
GREENE: The '70s, a time when there was actually a lot of vinyl.
DEGGANS: Exactly (laughter). Well, there's - vinyl's coming back.
GREENE: Yeah, it is.
DEGGANS: Mick Jagger was talking to his critics. And he said, you know, he doesn't play vinyl, but his kids love it.
GREENE: There you go.
DEGGANS: So there you go (laughter).
GREENE: That tells you something. Eric, we have to say here, you're into superheroes, right?
DEGGANS: I am a comic book geek.
GREENE: OK. Well, this is why...
DEGGANS: Card-carrying, certified comic book geek.
GREENE: Nice, this is why you're into this new show on The CW, right? It's over on network TV, "Legends Of Tomorrow."
DEGGANS: "Legends Of Tomorrow," they basically took a bunch of characters that we've seen in storylines in "The Flash" and "Arrow," Hawkman and Hawkgirl. And they've spun them off into this special show that involves time travel. A guy from the future comes back, grabs a bunch of these heroes and takes them on an adventure to take down this immortal, big bad villain. This show is executive produced by Greg Berlanti. This guy, I like to call him the David E. Kelley of superhero shows.
GREENE: OK.
DEGGANS: David E. Kelley, you might remember, is the executive producer who created "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice" and "Boston Legal."
GREENE: Addictive shows, yeah.
DEGGANS: Tons of shows for television at one time, and that's something that Greg's doing too with "Supergirl" on CBS. He's doing "Arrow" and "The Flash" on The CW besides "Legends Of Tomorrow." And he's really figured out how to translate these characters into compelling television.
GREENE: Sounds good, and before we go, we should say, you and I are both card-carrying karaoke fans.
DEGGANS: You know it.
GREENE: I'm hoping that we can find a time for that while we're out here in LA together.
DEGGANS: (Laughter) I'm taking you down, Greene. I'm taking you down.
GREENE: I know you will. You always do. It's NPR TV critic and karaoke star Eric Deggans. Thanks, Eric.
DEGGANS: Bye.