Matt Buckler: Johnny Depp's career starting to look good again

Jun. 9—Before his courtroom battle with Amber Heard, Johnny Depp's career was almost considered to be in the past tense.

But since he won $10 million in the defamation suit against Heard, Depp's career has been rejuvenated. There's energy where there was lethargy.

His first project since the trial with Heard ended will be in a docuseries, "Boston George," following noted cocaine smuggler of the '70s and '80s, George Jacob Jung.

Since Depp played Jung in the 2001 movie, "Blow," he has to know a lot about him. And Depp will be interviewed to give his insights over the notorious drug smuggler.

The series will be seen on the streaming site Fandor, which most TV viewers have never heard of before.

The regained star power of Depp, however, will get the word out about it.

This was a pretty amazing step by Depp. He didn't make his comeback in a movie or on TV, but in a courtroom.

While the media has made a big deal about the Depp-Heard trial, perhaps that frenzy never reached the viewers.

Here's the evidence: Fox aired a special about the case on Tuesday, connecting all the dots of the trial together, but the special laid an airball in the ratings.

It was watched by only 874,000 viewers, making it one of the lowest-rated shows of the night.

"America's Got Talent" on NBC meanwhile, finished No. 1 with an audience of 6.4 million. And none of the contestants on the show were as famous as Depp.

That means two things. Maybe the public has had its fill of the case, or they already knew the ending and didn't need to watch it again.

Steele survivor

It's an incident that makes you cringe every time you think about it — ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele getting hit in the face by a Jon Rahm tee shot at the PGA Championship May 19.

Even though it didn't happen to you, the pain still can be felt.

Less than a month after she was left bleeding by a ball with an exit velocity greater than an Aaron Judge home run, Steele returned to ESPN, playing host to the noon edition of "SportsCenter."

She also explained what happened, which is important because the cameras didn't catch it.

Steele said, "Her life flashed before her eyes."

She summed it all up. "I feel like the luckiest person in the world to still be here," she said.

Steele has had a few battles with ESPN management in recent weeks — including what she says was a suspension — but everyone had to be pulling for her Wednesday.

Baseball blackout

After a rough week at work, viewers may just want to relax Friday night and watch the red-hot New York Yankees play host to the Chicago Cubs.

And after that game is over, the New York Mets will take on the Los Angeles Angels. It's a great doubleheader with which to end the week.

Greed, however, will get in the way of relaxation.

The Yankees-Cubs game won't be seen on the YES Network, its usual location, but on Amazon Prime Video.

The Mets' game is on Apple TV, which provides another example of Major League Baseball shortchanging its fans to make more money.

This situation also happened Sunday when an exciting Yankees extra-inning game only was seen on Peacock.

Baseball used to be the sport of the working man. But now the working man can't even watch the game on cable, for which he pays a small fortune every month.

Fans can still hear the games on radio. Unless the games are on streaming radio networks. Then the average fan may never get to enjoy a game.

Follow Matt Buckler for more television, radio, and sports coverage on the JI's Twitter @journalinquirer, and see his articles on the Journal Inquirer Facebook page.