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BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: December 22, 2025

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am counting down my Top 10 TV Shows of the Year to finish off my Year in Review and also taking a look back at Hawaii Five-0 . The blog will be on a break until January 12 so I will see you then! YEAR IN REVIEW TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF THE YEAR Honorable Mentions: The Diplomat, Only Murders in the Building, Adolescence, The Studio, The Four Seasons 10. ABBOTT ELEMENTARY (ABC) It can always be hard to decide how to rank a broadcast show that makes so many more episodes than streaming or premium channel shows. So if Abbott Elementary had a few clunkers among over 20 episodes, is that a reason to ding it? Because it has had a few clunkers this fall. But it made my list because of a very strong end to the fourth season back in the spring. There were a couple really compelling arcs going on and Janelle James in particular had a great season that gave her a lot more dimension. Abbott is becoming a comedy elder statesman now but any show that can still ...
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BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: December 15, 2025

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am continuing my Year in Review with my Top 11 Episodes of the Year. Plus, I am looking at the latest episode of Pluribus and taking a look back at Outsourced ! YEAR IN REVIEW TOP 11 EPISODES OF THE YEAR Normally this would be a Top 10 Episodes of the Year but I just couldn't take one of them off this list so I decided to make it a Top 11! 11 . Paradise "The Day" (Hulu, February 25) I really wasn't a fan of the first season of Paradise  but this was a case where one episode was so far and above everything else that came before and after. The penultimate episode, titled "The Day," took us back to the apocalyptic event that led to the premise of the show. I didn't really care about how it fit into the show's mythology, because I don't like the show, but I thought it was a fascinating and eerie look at what could happen if the people in power find out the world is ending before the general public. It was...
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BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: December 8, 2025

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am kicking off my Year in Review with my Top 10 Performances of the Year. Plus a check in on Pluribus , my #1 show of my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 and a look back at No Ordinary Family ! YEAR IN REVIEW TOP 10 PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR I'm kicking off a three week Year in Review with the Top 10 Performances of the Year. Next week will be my Top 10 Episodes followed by my last post for 2025 - my Top 10 Shows of 2025. Enjoy! 10. The Guest Stars of  The Studio I wasn't as high on The Studio as many because I found it inconsistent but I struggle to think of a show that had as high a batting average of guest stars. Even the "killer of the week" shows like Poker Face and Elsbeth rise and fall a bit based on their guest. But pretty much everyone, including many known more for being behind the camera, rocked it on The Studio . Who was my favorite? Probably Zoe Kravitz, with a completely unhinged performance. But I also have a lot of l...
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BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: November 24, 2025

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the second season of A Man on the Inside plus the finales of The Morning Show and Murdaugh: Death in the Family and the latest episode of Pluribus . Also, I'm continuing my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 with #2 and doing a pilot re-review of Raising Hope ! The blog will be taking a break next week and return on December 8! WHAT'S NEW A MAN ON THE INSIDE SEASON 2 I really enjoyed the first season of A Man on the Inside . Premiering late in 2024, it finished high on my end of year list and there seemed to be solid buzz for the show. By the time the Emmy Awards season rolled around, it seemed to be a little bit forgotten which I guess isn't too surprising. It was a really charming show but not necessarily one that stays with you. So now we're back for the second season and a new mystery, this time set on a college campus instead of a retirement home with Ted Danson's real life wife Mary Steenburgen joining the cast....
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BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: November 17, 2025

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at The Beast in Me and the second season of Landman plus the latest episodes of Pluribus . Also, I am continuing my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 with #3 and doing a pilot re-review of Mike & Molly ! WHAT'S NEW THE BEAST IN ME A very rare occurrence happened last week with Netflix's Death by Lightning . I (along with many others) made the comment that it felt too short. At a mere four episodes, it needed probably two more to really tell its story. Most of the time, in the prestige TV era, limited series are too long in terms of episodes. Because limited series are close-ended by nature, there are many series that pad the story with more episodes than needed. That happened again this week with The Beast in Me. While I only have watched three episodes of the eight episode Netflix series, I can already tell they probably should have given two of their episodes to Death by Lightning . There are things to like in this cat and mo...
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BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: November 10, 2025

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at new shows Pluribus, Death by Lightning and Stumbled plus the season finale of The Lowdown and the latest episode of The Morning Show . Also, I'm continuing my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 with #4 and taking a look back at the short-lived My Generation ! WHAT'S NEW PLURIBUS The highly anticipated Pluribus debuted on Friday with its first two episodes. The show, which is Vince Gilligan's first show since Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul , was shrouded in secrecy up through its premiere and already has a lot of fans and glowing critical reviews. I wasn't sure what I would think even though I loved Breaking Bad (I started Saul and couldn't get into it but want to give it another try sometime). The reason I wasn't sure was because there were some sci-fi descriptors even though most previews called it "genre-bending."  Well, genre-bending is definitely the right word for it as the first two episodes wer...
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