A few days after Ozy Media’s board of directors said the digital media company was shutting down, CEO Carlos Watson is saying not so fast.

“We’re going to open for business,” said Watson, a former MSNBC anchor, during an interview on NBC’s Today Monday.

“This is our Lazarus moment, if you will; this is our Tylenol moment,“ Watson said. “Last week was traumatic, it was difficult, heartbreaking, in many ways.” 

Watson conceded that operations were suspended on Friday with plans to shut down.

“And as we spent time over the weekend we talked to advertising partners, we talked to some of our readers, some of our viewers, our listeners, our investors,” said he claimed plans changed.

“I think Ozy is part of this moment, and it’s not going to be easy, and I think what we do with newsletters, what we do with TV shows, original TV shows, podcasts and more, I think has a place,” he said.

Ozy appeared to quickly collapse last week after a New York Times article indicated that Ozy’s chief operating officer impersonated a Google executive during a fundraising call with Goldman Sachs.

Watson called the New York Times story a “hit job” in a tweet last week.

The new season of One Mississippi arrives on Amazon this Friday (Sept. 8). The writing started on Jan. 17, with President Donald Trump’s inauguration just three days away. The timing affected the writers’ room.

“We really focus on a lot of current events,” star Tig Notaro said. “Everybody was very fueled with ideas and feelings.”

Robert E. Lee, a key figure in the Charlottesville culture wars, gets a fortuitous mention. One Mississippidepicts that state celebrating Lee’s accomplishments on Martin Luther King Day.

Notaro called it “a huge relief” not having to deal with ratings in the streaming world. “It means we get to make the show we want to make,” she said.

One Mississippi may run for five or six seasons, she hopes. “As far as I’m concerned, it could go on and on. But who knows — maybe they kick us out after season two?”

Related: Watch the "One Mississippi" Trailer

Sept. 8 is also the launch date for Third Rail With Ozy, a lively PBS debate program. Guests include Katie Couric, Mark Cuban and Malcolm Gladwell. The host is Carlos Watson, creator of journalism site Ozy.com. Watson said the timing of its premiere is perfect. “People are hungry to have this kind of forum to participate in this kind of conversation,” he said.

Denise Dilanni, show creator and WGBH senior executive, said Third Rail offers some of the late-night vibe seen on Full Frontal With Samantha Bee and Real Time With Bill Maher. “It’s unplugged and electrifying,” Dilanni said.

Watson promises the debates will run hot. “We’re gonna grab a hold of the third rail,” he said, “and see what happens.”

Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville is ready to light up on Fox Sept. 10. The oddball space romp sees MacFarlane as a down-on-his-luck spaceship captain who leads a crew on a vessel known as The Orville.

Where did the name come from? MacFarlane was reading David McCullough’s book on the Wright brothers, aptly named The Wright Brothers. “It felt like they were down on Orville, that Wilbur was doing most of the work. I felt like we should be The Orville then.”

Not everyone at Fox dug the name, but according to MacFarlane “everyone recognized the oddness of it. It put the show in a space from the get-go that said to the audience, ‘This is a little offbeat.’ ”

The programming polymath has a unique way of calibrating a new sci-fi property. “If I was a kid, would I want this as a toy?” MacFarlane said. “If I was 12, would I want this in my room?”

Viewers will decide if they want The Orville in their room.

Americans are split over how technology is impacting society as a whole, with 49% of those surveyed saying tech makes individuals less intelligent and 46% saying technology makes people smarter. And just 51% of Americans say the benefits of technological advances outweigh the risks.

That’s according to the results of a Point Taken-Marist poll, commissioned by WGBH Boston for its late-night PBS debate series Point Taken, hosted by Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of OZY Media. The episode tackling the results of the poll will air June 21 at 11 p.m. ET.

Perhaps surprisingly, the younger the survey respondent, the less likely they are to give technology the benefit of the doubt: Millennials (53%) and Gen Xers (53%) were more likely than Baby Boomers (48%) and the Silent/Greatest generation (38%) to say technology makes us less intelligent.

“If you think younger people are all in for technological revolution, think again,” said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, in a statement. “This national survey shows surprising differences among generations and their appreciation for innovation.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.