Benjamonster's TV

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the fifth season of For All Mankind , the finale of Love Story and the latest episodes of The Pitt and Rooster . Plus, I am counting down my Top 10 Shows starting with H and looking at the Emmy Awards race for Supporting Actor and Actress in a Drama Series. WHAT'S NEW FOR ALL MANKIND Season 5 I've had a very up and down relationship over the years with  For All Mankind , a show that has been on the air since the day Apple TV launched back in 2019. I thought the first season was technically impressive but ultimately somewhat boring. Then Season 2 was brilliant, one of the strongest second season jumps in recent memory in terms of quality. I was super stoked for Season 3, but it ended up being a bit of a step down from the second season though I still thought it was quite solid and ended in a really exciting place. But then the wheels came off for me in Season 4, which finished up way back in January 2024. So I approache...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! Back after a week off, I am looking at Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat and Imperfect Women . Pluss, the latest episodes of The Pitt, Paradise and Shrinking ! Also, I am counting down my Top 10 Series Starting with G and taking a look at the Supporting Actor and Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series race.   WHAT'S NEW JURY DUTY PRESENTS: COMPANY RETREAT I didn't jump on the Jury Duty train when it first came out but once I did watch it, I absolutely loved it and was amazed at how it all came together and how they found the absolute perfect person to be the one person not in on the joke. I was pretty skeptical (though not surprised) when they announced a second season. It felt like lightning wouldn't strike twice. While it may not be quite as perfect as the first season, the second season so far seems to get closer than I would have thought. Once again, they found the perfect person to play the one guy who doesn't know what's going...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week I am looking at the major Oscar races, Rooster and RJ Decker . Plus the latest episodes of Shrinking, Paradise and DTF St. Louis . Plus I am taking a look back at Happy Endings and counting down my Top 10 Shows Beginning with F. This newsletter will be on a one week break next week and will return on March 23!   WHAT'S NEW OSCARS PREDICTIONS The Oscars are this Sunday! With Conan O'Brien returning as host, there are quite a few unpredictable major categories. The Best Picture race still seems to be close to between One Battle After Another and Sinners while the Supporting races are a complete crapshoot and Lead Actor was thrown into chaos after last week's Actor Awards. Since I've watched more movies this year, below is what I think Will & Should win in the major categories! Best Picture Will Win: Sinners Should Win: One Battle After Another Best Director Will/Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another Lead ...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at DTF St. Louis, American Classic and Paradise  Season Two. Plus, the latest episodes of Love Story, Shrinking and The Pitt . I am also ranking my Top 10 TV Shows that start with E and taking a look back at FOX's 2011 sitcom Traffic Light .   WHAT'S NEW DTF ST. LOUIS In my time doing this blog, I have seen many crime dramas - ones that start with a body in the opening scene and then flash back. To be honest, I'm pretty sick of that trope. I can forgive it for something I love like The White Lotus  but I roll my eyes more often than not at this point. DTF St. Louis , which premiered last night on HBO, feels like a fresh breath on the genre and not just because the dead body wasn't revealed until about 20 minutes in. The whole tone of the show was very unique and unsettling. From the stark rot of suburbia displayed in the art direction (they really made suburban St. Louis look like it had nothing going on) to the c...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! I have a few reasons why there was nothing new I reviewed this week but I do have thoughts on the latest episodes of Shrinking and The Pitt . Plus my Top 10 Shows Starting with D and a look back at Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior   WHAT'S NEW Nothing New This Week Nothing new to review this week for me. I did start the new season of The Last Thing He Told Me but then decided after a few minutes that I didn't care. I had NO memory of this show even though I watched the whole first season. I don't think I liked it all that much given I didn't nominate it for anything in my awards that year but watching the recap, I was like "wow, I really remember nothing about this" and then the show started up and it was clearly continuing a story I didn't care about so I was out. Shows coming out three years apart and being that serialized is frustrating even in the best cases and this was not the best case. Elsewhere, I liked the first s...