Pop TV went from 0 to 10 Emmys in less than a week, but its triumph is "bittersweet"

Deadline

The small ViacomCBS network came in third place in Emmy wins this year -- behind juggernauts HBO and Netflix -- with nine Emmys for Schitt's Creek and one for One Day at a Time. "But the triumph is bittersweet," says Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "Pop TV has overhauled its programming strategy since the Viacom-CBS merger in late 2019, which moved previously CBS-owned Pop TV to the Viacom side of the company where it is now part of the ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group. The unit put muscle behind the final season of Schitt’s Creek and Season 4 of One Day At a Time with simulcasts on multiple networks. But since the merger, Pop TV also has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs. Pop TV president Brad Schwartz, who launched the network in 2015 and brought in both Schitt’s Creek and One Day at a Time, exited in June. In March, the majority of his slate of original scripted series, including the well received Florida Girls, Flack and the newly ordered Best Intentions, was abruptly scrapped. 'Where will creatively oddly-shaped masterpieces be able to find their way moving forward?,' one industry veteran who has had a show on Pop lamented about the net’s pullout from original scripted series. Heading into Emmy season, Schitt’s Creek and One Day at a Time were the only remaining Pop TV original scripted series. Schitt’s Creek is now gone, and One Day at a Time, whose first season on Pop was cut short by the pandemic, awaits word on its future. There has been speculation that, if the praised family sitcom is to be renewed for another season, it may move to ViacomCBS’ more established comedy cable network TV Land."