BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: November 4, 2024

Welcome to my weekly newsletter. It was a quiet week for premieres and next week is even more quiet so I will take a week off from the newsletter next week and return on November 18! This week, I am looking at Season 2 of The Diplomat and giving some quick thoughts on other shows.

"THE DIPLOMAT" SEASON 2

The Diplomat returned for its second season this week. The season is a brisk six episodes. I've gotten to the first three of them. I'm sure many have finished the season but these thoughts are only on the first three episodes. I enjoyed the first season of The Diplomat, particularly the performances of Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell but I found myself not really remembering a lot about it by the time the second season rolled around. So I was glad for the lengthy "previously on" that Netflix gave us. But as it started to come back to me, I felt like the show spent much of the first two episodes sort of resetting the table from its explosive (pardon the pun) finale.

It wasn't until the third season where I felt the show was settling into its plot for the second season. And therein lies the problem with these short seasons. Back when broadcast dramas used to be more serialized, it wouldn't have mattered if they spent an episode or two following up to a finale and getting things clear and reset for a new season. There were still 20 episodes to go! But here we have the third episode finally getting things going and there's only three episodes left. I am not necessarily advocating for serialized dramas to go back to 22 episodes a year because we all know they can run out of stories quickly. But getting back to 10 or 13 for most of these types of dramas would be really nice.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: October 28, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week I am looking at Poppa's House, the third and final season of Somebody Somewhere and the sixth and final season of What We Do in the Shadows! Plus, thoughts on Before, Abbott Elementary and Elsbeth!

"POPPA'S HOUSE"

I always hold my breath when new multi-cam sitcoms appear on Broadcast TV because some of them are just so cringey and then I have to go on my regular rant about how the artform has died and lament how we can go from the format boasting shows like Cheers and The Mary Tyler Moore Show to being the lowest form of scripted TV. I was expecting to feel those feelings after watching Happy's Place and/or Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage but I didn't end up hating either one of those. Then I watched Poppa's House and well... you know what I want to say.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: October 21, 2024

Welcome to a busy Monday newsletter! It's a comedy heavy week this week. I am looking at Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, Happy's Place, Season 2 of Shrinking and the pairing of Matlock and Elsbeth. Plus thoughts on English Teacher, The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, Agatha All Along, Abbott Elementary and Frasier!

"GEORGIE & MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE"

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage is the third series in the Big Bang universe. I never watched The Big Bang Theory but when it went from a raucous multi-cam sitcom to the single camera family sitcom, Young Sheldon, I was on board and watched the entire seven season run. I never loved the show but I liked it quite a bit at times. Now the show is shifting back to a multi-cam format with Montana Jordan and Emily Osment taking their Young Sheldon characters to their own show. Big Bang didn't share any actors so the format switch seemed fine but this is jarring because its characters we've seen in a single cam format thrown into a multi-cam world.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: October 14, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. This week, I am looking at Disclaimer, the fourth season of Abbott Elementary and the end of the first season of Bad Monkey. Also I have some quick thoughts on English Teacher, Only Murders in the Building and American Sports Story!

"DISCLAIMER"

Disclaimer is a new star-studded limited series on Apple TV+ and it comes from acclaimed filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron. In press for the show, Cuaron has committed the cardinal sin of calling it a "seven hour movie" which TV fans (including this one) hate to here. There's a reason TV is a different medium than movies. There needs to be an episodic nature to them even when they are serialized stories and there's a reason very few people want to watch a seven hour movie. I feel like when people like Cuaron (or others in the past including lots of Marvel people) say things like that, they truly feel like they are saying something that would be enticing to people but it has the exact opposite effect.

However, the good thing about an auteur filmmaker like Cuaron doing TV is you know you are going to get something beautifully shot and that is the case with Disclaimer. I have my concerns about the story but there's no denying that it is very well shot. The cast is top notch too, particularly Kevin Kline. He is captivating in every scene he's in and was easily the best part of the first two episodes. Sacha Baron Cohen is almost unrecognizable in this and Lesley Manville has a small role (so far) that is interesting. As for the lead performance, I'm going to withhold judgment on what I think of Cate Blanchett. Despite being the star, she's not given a ton to do in the first two episodes with so much setup (more on that below) and I do like Blanchett generally so we'll see.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: October 7, 2024

Welcome to a shorter Monday newsletter than the last two weeks. This week, I am looking at HBO's The Franchise and the second half of the season of Netflix's Nobody Wants This. Plus I have some thoughts on English Teacher, Only Murders in the Building and Agatha All Along.

THE FRANCHISE

HBO's new comedy The Franchise debuted last night. The series comes from the acclaimed trio of Jon Brown, Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes and is a behind-the-scenes satire of a troubled franchise superhero movie. I know this series was ordered in 2022 but I'm going to guess it was kicking around for a bit before that because this feels more like a 2019 premise for a TV show when the Marvel franchise was still flying high. Now it almost feels like kicking something while its down because both Marvel and DC have sputtered in film and TV in recent years.

I'm not a big fan of superhero movies but I follow the industry enough to know the many things that have gone wrong in recent years following their huge ascent during the 2010s. It's only been one episode but so far I've gotten the sense that this more a show with a few funny moments than a cohesive vision of how to satirize this genre. When I think about the pilot, I can think of a few funny moments - the opening walkthrough, the yelling of "waterfall," the fish people getting excised. But I don't think this is a show that quite has a point of view yet.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: September 30, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. Today I am looking at Nobody Wants This, Doctor Odyssey and Grotesquerie plus I have a few thoughts on Saturday Night Live and a host of other new shows that premiered last week.

NOBODY WANTS THIS

It feels like we don't get too many true rom-coms on TV anymore but Nobody Wants This certainly fits into that category. Netflix's new series, starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, has the very rom-com plot of an agnostic podcaster who loves to talk about sex (Bell) who has a meet cute and then very quickly a relationship with a young, unconventional rabbi (Brody). In less capable hands, this would be a Hallmark movie with a whole bunch of eye rolls. But in the very capable hands of Bell and Brody, it's mostly a delight.

It's always weird to talk about Netflix shows since they drop all at once and some people have surely finished the series. I've watched the first four episodes. The show is absolutely at its best when Bell and Brody are together. The two have an easy chemistry and have a lot of fun together on screen. Close behind are times when Bell is with Justine Lupe as her sister and co-podcaster. Bell and Lupe certainly have a sisterly dynamic and have some funny moments with their parents. The show falls apart a little bit for me with Brody's on-screen family. Besides being a bunch of thinly drawn Jewish stereotypes, there also just isn't the easy camaraderie or chemistry, at least through the first four episodes, that makes me believe them as a family. They seem more about punchlines and broad caricatures.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: September 23, 2024

Welcome to a VERY busy newsletter after a week full of big premieres. This week, I am looking at a flurry of new shows: The Penguin, Agatha All Along, Matlock, American Sports Story & Monsters and High Potential. Plus some brief thoughts on Frasier, English Teacher and Bad Monkey. Sorry in advance for the length!

THE PENGUIN

The Penguin was probably the highest profile launch of the many premieres in the past week. The HBO limited series follows Colin Farrell's portrayal of the famous Batman villain following the 2022 film The Batman. I didn't see The Batman but the days of a campy Burgess Meredith hobbling around making bird sounds are long gone. In case you haven't noticed, the Batman franchise has gotten a whole lot darker over the years. And this show shares way more DNA with The Sopranos than the original Batman show. 

But that's not to say it's not without camp elements. And that's aside from the obvious nods to Meredith (Burgess Jewelry) and Danny DeVito, from 1992's Batman Returns (Danny's Roofing Company). Between the purple car and suit, the use of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" and the nearly cartoonish elements of the style of Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone, the show still retains a bit of camp even though its set in a deadly serious mob underworld. I'm not sure the pilot completely struck the right tone with that but it wasn't a wild miss and it mostly worked for me.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: September 17, 2024

Welcome to my (one day late) newsletter1 This week, I am recapping the Emmy Awards plus sharing thoughts on How to Die Alone and more!

EMMY AWARDS RECAP

The Emmy Awards were held Sunday night and it was an interesting night with some predictable results and some big surprises. of course the surprise everyone is talking about is Hacks winning over The Bear. While there was backlash to The Bear's third season and its continuous placement in the Comedy field, the win for Hacks was surprising because The Bear won many awards earlier in the night including Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Directing. But the overall prize went to Hacks, a show that's much more of a comedy coming off a delightful third season and also had a third win for Jean Smart as well as Writing. And even though voters were supposed to be voting for the second season of The Bear, it was clear from the series loss and Liza Colon Zayas' win that the third season was very much on the mind of voters. That Supporting Actress award really should have been Hannah Einbinder's considering how Hacks did overall and Zayas had her showcase in the third season, which is eligible next year. Oh the weirdness of the streaming calendar with the Emmys window.

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: September 9, 2024

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week has an Emmy Awards preview, thoughts on English Teacher and The Perfect Couple and more!

EMMY AWARDS PREVIEW

The Emmy Awards are this Sunday! Here's my look at what will win, should win and should have been nominated in the major categories. Among the series races, I think Shogun is the only lock. The other two frontrunners could be upset. The Bear seems likely to win especially if voters kept it in their heads that they were voting for Season 2. But if some voters take into account their dislike for Season 3, that could hurt the chances for The Bear and give a lane to Hacks to win. Meanwhile, in the Limited Series category, Baby Reindeer seems like too big a phenomenon to not win. But the offscreen controversies surrounding the show could hurt it. If that happens, it seems like the Emmy could go to either True Detective: Night Country or Fargo, or maybe even the very deserving Ripley. 

Outstanding Comedy Series

Will/Should Win: The Bear

Should Have Been Nominated: The Righteous Gemstones

Outstanding Drama Series

Will Win: Shogun

Should Win: Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Should Have Been Nominated: Elsbeth

Outstanding Limited Series

Will Win: Baby Reindeer

Should Win: Ripley

Should Have Been Nominated: None - these are the five I would have nominated!

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Will/Should Win: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Should Have Been Nominated: Kayvan Novak, What We Do in the Shadows

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Will/Should Win: Jean Smart, Hacks

Should Have Been Nominated: Rose Byrne, Platonic

BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: September 2, 2024

My Monday newsletter is back as we head into the fall! Today I am looking at my most anticipated fall shows, reviewing summer TV and sharing some thoughts on the newest season of Only Murders in the Building!

TOP 10 MOST ANTICIPATED NEW FALL SHOWS

This fall feels a lot more like a normal fall after last year's strike-affected fall season. And after a rough summer of new TV (see more on that below), there are some really interesting shows coming over the next couple months! Here's a look at my Top 10 most anticipated new shows of the fall season!

10. The Perfect Couple (Netflix, September 5)

I'm a little leery of this one because I've grown tired of watching Nicole Kidman play wealthy white women with major first world problems. But I'm intrigued by the rest of the cast, which includes Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning and Meghann Fahy, the latter whom I absolutely loved on the second season of The White Lotus. It looks very soapy but also looks interesting enough for me to give it a try and hope it is one of the better versions of that type of show.

9. Agatha All Along (Disney+, September 18)

Unlike some other shows on this list, my interest is this show dropped after seeing the trailer. I loved Kathryn Hahn on WandaVision so even though I'm not much of a Marvel guy, I was very intrigued by this show. But I thought the trailer looked pretty bad. The production values look like cheap CGI and Hahn seems to be missing all the pizazz she had on WandaVision. Still, this show has Aubrey Plaza, Patti LuPone, Debra Jo Rupp and others in the supporting cast. I'm still definitely giving it a try but I'm much more apprehensive.

8. Nobody Wants This (Netflix, September 26)

This show was on my radar but I became a little more interested after seeing the trailer. Kristen Bell and Adam Brody are both very likable actors and the premise, about an agnostic woman who falls for a rabbi, has potential. It seems very much like a rom-com movie of the 90s but that's not a bad thing. It's nice to see the rom-com genre getting two leads in their 40s and there doesn't seem to be some unnecessary hook or deep dark secret here. I think it could be a very pleasant watch.

7. Matlock (CBS, September 22)

I really enjoy Kathy Bates so even though this show is way outside my demographic, I think it'll be a really solid legal show. Elsbeth revived my hope that network procedurals can still have some fun and this seems like a really good pair with Elsbeth on Thursday nights. I loved Bates in the otherwise troubled Harry's Law and she will certainly be a force here. Kathy Bates in a legal drama procedural on CBS just goes down easy. It may not be as ambitious as some of the other shows on this list, but it certainly could be some nice comfort food TV.

6. How to Die Alone (Hulu, September 13)

This was a show that was not on my radar at all until I saw the trailer. Now it's definitely a show I'm curious about. I loved Natasha Rothwell on The White Lotus and this seems to be a show with distinct voice and vision (coming from Rothwell). The story, about a JFK employee who tries to turn her life around after a near-death experience, has a promising plot to be able to explore relationships and I thought the trailer had a lot of fun and sweet moments. It could be a surprise this fall.